The Doctor's POV

"Will you relax?" River asked me as I paced back and forth. It had been a long while since I last saw Melody, and I was getting worried.

"Not until Melody returns," I said. "How long has she been gone? An hour? Two?"

"A half an hour," River corrected. "That's not at all long. Come sit down."

I flopped down next to River, nearly smacking my head against the top bunk. "This is so boring," I complained.

River sighed. "Is 'relaxing' outside your capabilities?"

"Yes. Yes, it is," I said, sitting up. This time, I did whack my head off the top bunk.

"Guess bunk beds aren't as cool, are they?" River said with a laugh. I rubbed my head and glared at her. "No, they're still cool."

"And you're still stubborn," River muttered. Then she straightened up. "Alright, if you're so worried, why don't you go to the captain?"

"That's a good idea," I said, standing up and dodging the top bunk.

"I thought he's never agree," River said sarcastically. "Be careful, love; I don't really trust her."

"Nor do I," I replied. "That's why I need to see if Melody's okay."

River didn't answer, just reclined on the bed. I went to the door, but before I could open it, someone else did on the other side. It was Captain Taylor.

"Where's Melody?" I had to ask. 

She ignored my question. "I thought I'd give the two of you a tour, if that's alright. Melody's waiting for you."

"Melody would've come with you," River said. "Why did you leave her?"

"Because I did," she snapped. "Come. Now!"

I looked at River, who shrugged and stood up. As we followed Captain Taylor out of the bunks, she leaned over and whispered, "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Well, thank God you've got a gun. Or twenty," I replied sarcastically.

"But don't I, love?" River smirked.

 "Oh, shut up," I hissed as Captain Taylor turned to us. "Are you two done with the whisper fight? Because we've reached where I wanted to show you."

"Oh, it's a metal door. How fascinating," River said sarcastically. 

Captain Taylor glared at her but said nothing. Instead she turned the valve on the door and pushed it open. White mist floated out. "Welcome to the Isolation Room," she said proudly.

I stared. Tank after tank-and there were hundreds-were filled with some kind of aliens. As we past, I saw Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen, but the most disturbing thing was all the human-like beings that were, on a closer inspection, were-cats. River stared at them all, then turned to Captain Taylor. "This is what you do for information? Drown them? What kind of sicko are you?" 

"I don't drown them, they're called 'isolation tanks'. They basically keep you in a state where you live without actually living. You can think, you can move, but you can't feel hunger, thirst, or anything. You're just...there."

"Yeah, that's better. How long do you keep them there? How do they not die?" I snapped. "Where the hell's Melody, anyways?"

"I'll show you," Captain Taylor said. "And for your questions, I keep them there as long as possible. I don't really see much reason as to take them out, as we've interrogated them all, and they only don't die because they're living in a nonliving state. That's what the liquid is for. To hold in the same state as they were."

River glanced at me, and I knew what she was thinking. Why are we in here?

Captain Taylor continued, "After a while, most will be driven insane. Especially these kinds-" Captain Taylor patted one of the tanks with were-cats-"so if we keep them long enough in a tank, let's say about five days, they'll answer any questions so as long as they're allowed out of the tank. If, after a while, they still won't respond, we resort to shocking them until they answer the questions."

"Melody," I said, my eyes widening. "You've put her in a tank. That's what you meant by showing her what happens to captives when they refuse to cooperate. You stick them in a isolation tank. You stuck her in one!"

"She didn't put up quite a fight I thought," Captain Taylor mused. "I'm quite amazed, actually; I thought she'd be like most were-cats."

We had reached the end of the row. There, I pushed myself up to the glass. "Oh, no. Oh, oh, no."

"That's Melody," River said in a hushed voice. "You said they could move. How come she's not moving. How come she can't see us?"

"My mistake," Captain Taylor said smoothly. "I meant that they can think, so they think they're moving, but they're really not. She's asleep, and will be for as long as I keep her in there. And I don't have a set date."

Melody's POV

My head hurt, my muscles felt sore. I cracked open my eyes. Why was the lighting green?

And why did it feel-and look-like I was underwater?

Frightened, I smacked my hands against the glass. Why wasn't I drowning? Why did my lungs not hurt? They should. I realized something-I didn't need to breathe. This scared me, but I opened my mouth and began to scream, banging my fists, my hair swirling around me. Bubbles streamed from my mouth, but I continued screaming, not hearing anything. Slowly, I relaxed. I still felt I should've been dead, but I was well beyond caring. I was stuck in a tank and I wanted out.

I spun around in my tank. I saw three people walking to the tank. One of them was moving their hands around a lot, and the other two-with a flash of hope, I realized one was River, because who could not recognize that hair even if it was smeared, disorted, and tinted green?-were glancing at each other. They reached my tank, and one pushed his face against the glass. Up close, I saw that it was Dad. He was saying something, but I couldn't hear him. I slammed my fists again into glass, screaming. Even if Dad couldn't see me, I wanted him to notice me. Instead, he continued staring at me with a mixed expression of confusion and worry. River said something, and the other person-Captain Taylor-replied. Dad pulled away from the glass and approached the evil woman. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but judging by his movements-pointing his finger and walking quickly-he was angry. If I weren't underwater, tears would've streaking down my face. This shocked me-I never cried.

Slowly I allowed myself to relax. My arms floated without me lifting them, my head drooped to my chest. If I was really underwater-and I could tell that this was no kind of natural water-I would've sunk to the bottom. But I didn't.

I don't remember how long I was like that-I never knew-but suddenly I heard this high-pitched noise that made me scream. It hurt my head, and made my eardrums feel like they were about to explode. 

Then it stopped, and I returned to my relaxed state. My head bumped against the glass, but I felt nothing. I had no reason to move. They couldn't see me.

And I was terrified.

River's POV

The Doctor pulled away from the glass and walked straight up to Captain Taylor. "Get her out. Now," he snarled.

"Sorry, Doctor, but this is for my job," Captain Taylor said. "I can show you what went on, and what's going on in her mind at the moment."

She turned to the computer attached to the tank and typed in a code. On the screen, I could see Melody stirring and lifting her head. She looked around her for a minute, and then began hitting the glass. She stopped, staring terrified, then resumed, harder and accompanied with what I assumed was screaming. She spun around in her tank and continued doing it. Then she stopped moving.

And then her head shot back up and she began her screaming again, only it seemed like it was out of pain. Her hands clamped to her ears, and she continued screaming.

Captain Taylor shut it off. "She's gone back to her relaxing state."

"Why was she screaming?" I asked quietly. "The second time."

"When I show what's going on, it can cause some pain," Captain Taylor explained.

I stared at her open-mouthed. The Doctor was continuing to stare at Melody, muttering, "Oh, Melody, I'm so sorry..."

He turned to Captain Taylor and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Do you know what this is?"

"A metal probe?" she guessed.

"Nope. A sonic screwdriver. And you wanna know what this can do?"

"Shatter isolation tanks." He pointed it at Melody's tank and pressed the button. The tank shattered, and Melody sprawled out. She curled up in a ball, her body shaking. I bent down next to her and helped into a sitting position. "There we are, Melody. That's it."

"No!" Captain Taylor screamed. "She would've been my prized possession!"

"Yeah? And she's my prized daughter," he turned to Melody and I. "Get back to her office!"

I pulled Melody into a standing position. "You're gonna have to run. Do you think you'll make it?"

She nodded, and we broke into a sprint. Melody was fast, but still unsteady on her feet. I could hear the Doctor pressing his sonic screwdriver at something, then he sprinted after us. Captain Taylor ran after him, yelling, "Doctor! No, wait!"

Melody and I busted through the valve. Melody slid down the wall. "Need-a-break," she gasped. 

"I don't think you'll get much of one," I said as the Doctor sprinted right past us, grabbing Melody's hand as he went. I followed. Captain Taylor followed us, gasping and panting. She wasn't exactly young.

"Why the office?" I asked.

"Because!" he called back. "I have a plan!"

I scowled. He was so vague with what he was going to do. But I continued running after them.

We burst into her office, and I turned to the Doctor. "Okay, what are you doing?"

"I hacked into the computer system," he explained, pointing the screwdriver at the screen. Thousands of numbers flooded the screen. "I sent the data here," he continued, "so I could look at it on a bigger screen. Ah, here we are."

A report took over the screen. He scanned over it, then turned to Captain Taylor. "You're an illegal company that plans to use the aliens knowledge to create the 'Ultimate Weapon'. What is that?"

"An alien weapon used to destroy alien threats" she said sourly. "It's been misbehaving. I'm hoping that maybe you could help."

"I wouldn't help you even if you hadn't captured Melody," he growled. "That's just wrong. It is!"

"You're afraid, aren't you? For the humankind's sake," Melody said quietly. "But why?"

"My brother. He was captain earlier. The ISASD has been running longer than you think. Anyhow, he was murdered by an alien. That's why we changed our use for a weapon. That's why we treat the aliens so harshly." Captain Taylor bowed her head. "So, yes, I am afraid for the humankind's sake."

"Do you want the humankind to be safe? Go back home and stop messing with aliens. They are more dangerous than you think," the Doctor said.

"As I've learned, Doctor. But we have a problem," she said.

"What?" I asked.

"I said the weapon was misbehaving," Captain Taylor said. "What I meant was that it is slowly destroying the ship."

I saw the Doctor pause. "So?" 

"Doctor, it's like it wants me dead!" Captain Taylor said tearfully. "It destroys bits of the ship, and look-" she pulled up something on the screen. "Look at the path. It's coming closer to this room as we speak."

The Doctor paused. "Show me where it is."

The Doctor's POV

I approached the machinery-the Ultimate Weapon. It was ginormous, with random metal parts sticking out and buttons everywhere. It shook the room violently. "Why are you targeting her?" I muttered. "What is it?" 

I didn't expect an answer from it, but I noticed one of the lights target on something behind me. I spun around, and I could see Captain Taylor trembling. It was positioned on her, and was moving up and down, like it was scanning her. "Don't do anything," River snapped at her. "It might think you're a threat."

"I don't know why," she muttered. "I haven't done anything to it." 

"Shut up," Melody hissed. "We don't need your voice."

"But why are you targeting me?" Captain Taylor shrieked. "What did I do?"

"You exist," Melody said quietly.

"Don't be rude," I snapped.

"Do you want to know why were-cats see you, and even though they've never seen you or your TARDIS before, but yet, still know that you're a Time Lord?" Melody asked. "Because we can tell what someone is. Or, we can tell if they're were-cat, human, or not. And you're not a were-cat or human." Melody spun around. "Your brother was captain, but yet was murdered by an alien.So, who was that alien? And how come you don't know?

"You know something," she continued, "but you're hiding it. The machine was trained to kill aliens that pose a threat, and I'm going to have to say, you built that machine well."

She pointed her laser-light at Captain Taylor and we watched as she screamed and twisted around, showing that she was not human, at all. Instead, she had four different legs, pincer-like talons, ugly scaly blue skin, and six eyes. "What is that?" River muttered.

"A threat," Melody said. "Get out of the room!"

She turned around and yanked the door open. She and River ran out of the room, while the Threat approached me, hissing. "This is what you are," I muttered. "I knew you were evil, but this? Something that is nothing more than a threat? Fortunately, Melody showed me you're not immuned to sonic."

"No, please!" the Threat screamed. "Spare me, please!"

I opened my mouth, but Melody came in and grabbed my hand. "What are you doing?"

I ignored her. "Those files showed me what made an isolation tank what it was. What intrigued me was what that green liquid was. Your 'blood.' But it showed that you were nothing more than a puppet. You don't have single feeling. You're just pretending. You're not even alive."

I turned to walk to the door. "So, I really shouldn't feel bad about leaving you in the same room as the Ultimate Weapon."

"Noooooo!" the Threat yelled as I slammed the door shut. River was waiting for me at the end of the hallway. "I'd get far away from that thing if I were you," she said with a smirk.

I ran to be next to her. "We need to get back to the TARDIS. But first, I need to see what the machine does."

"That thing will cause a lot of destruction," Melody said. "It's best if we get out of-"

Her words were cut off by a loud boom, and a shuddering so violent that we were thrown to the floor. "-here," Melody finished once the shaking stopped. She pushed herself to her feet. "Dang. Let's go."

Melody's POV

As soon as we were in the TARDIS, I turned to Dad and said, "So, what now?"

"Now you take a shower, since you've got that liquid in your hair," he said with a grin. "Then we'll go do something fun."

"I've got to get back to my cell," River said.

"Ah, come on, River," I said.

"Nah," she shook her head. "I've been gone too long."

"Alright," Dad said.

As River left the TARDIS, she turned to me. "Oh, something that I noticed you saying in Captain Taylor's office. Step-mum?"

"It's true. See you, River," I waved from the jumpseat. Dad had to turned to hide his smile. River rolled her eyes and left.