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CHAPTER NINE:
KRILLITANES
AND TIN DOGS

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IRIS got to work immediately, leaning down to the computer and resting her head on the floor, fiddling with the wires and sonic'ing what needed extra help understanding.

"You need help, Iris?"

"No," Iris called back to Rose, ignoring the snarky tone in her voice. "I'm alright, thanks. I actually do this for fun, believe it or not. This is a different sonic than what I'm used to, but it's similar enough."

"Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?" Sarah Jane spoke up at Rose's scoff.

"I've got a feeling you're about to," Rose responded.

"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding," she began.

"I don't feel threatened by you," Rose responded. "If that's what you mean."

"Right. Good. Because I'm not interested in picking up where we left off."

Iris rolled her eyes at the pair, nibbling her lip as the larger wire snipped off. "Bingo," she grinned to herself. "Oh, shoot," her smile fell and she moved out from under the desk.

"It's deadlocked," she pouted a bit. "I can't move it," she informed the other two, but neither responded.

"The thing is, when you two met they'd only just got rid of rationing," Rose continued jabbing at Sarah Jane. Iris raised her eyebrows. Not again. Not in front of her. "No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for you."

"I had no problem with space stuff. I saw things you wouldn't believe," Sarah Jane countered.

"Try me."

"Mummies."

"I've met ghosts."

"Robots. Lots of robots."

"Slitheen, in Downing Street."

"Daleks!"

"Met the Emperor."

"Anti-matter monsters."

"Gas masked zombies."

"Real living dinosaurs."

"Real living werewolf."

"The Loch Ness Monster!"

Iris looked between the two like a game of ping-pong. She hadn't done any of those things, but she wondered how many of her own adventures she'd go on with the Doctor.

Dates, she recalled with a soft smile. He'd called them dates.

"Seriously?" Rose asked in disbelief and Sarah Jane shook her head, both girls smiling sheepishly. "Listen to us," the younger woman continued. "It's like me and my mate Shareen. The only time we fell out was over a man, and we're arguing over the Doctor." The girls laughed and Iris sighed, wishing she had a snack.

Digging in her hands, she was pleased to find a small pouch of jelly babies with a note reading "doctor's!! - don't touch, holloway" and laughed softly to herself, opening the bag and popping one in her mouth.

"With you," Rose started. "Did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety miles per hour, and you'd go, what? and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"

Not to insult their intelligence, but it was likely he was speaking perfectly normal, just in terms they weren't properly educated on and she knew he didn't take kindly to repeating himself.

"All the time," Sarah Jane nodded with a small laugh. "Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

Rose laughed. "Yeah! Yeah, he does. I'm like, do you two want to be alone?"

Sarah Jane burst into laughter and Iris popped another jelly baby in her mouth.

"That's probably because she's sentient," she pointed out. "I pat her too; she likes the comfort. Imagine someone walking around you constantly, stepping over you and never apologizing or making an effort to know you."

Both women stopped laughing, watched her, and then burst into laughter again. Iris frowned, confused, but just ate more jelly babies, face brightening when the Doctor entered the room.

"How's it going?"

The girls continued laughing and he walked forward, looking down to Iris in confusion.

"It's deadlocked," she explained, standing, offering him a jelly baby. He smiled, taking one and popping it in his mouth. "I can't do anything else."

"Something in there," he kneeled down and then opened his palm, where she poured another few jelly babies in. He shoved them in his mouth. "What're they teaching those kids?"

Iris flicked the sonic on, kneeling next to him and shook her head, handing it to him. He gave her a grateful look and got to work, leaving her with the snack.

She noticed Rose watching her and Iris smiled, waving cheerfully.

—

Iris sat in a chair, spinning slowly as her brain worked, the Doctor fiddling with wires until finally, the large screen lit up.

Programming with cubes and lettering and alien languages lit up the screen, the room tinging green with color.

"No..." the Doctor breathed out. "No, they can't be..."

Iris stood, walking the steps between her and the Doctor, tilting her head next to him.

"What is it?" She asked, Rose standing on the Doctor's other side.

"The Skasas Paradigm," the Doctor clenched his teeth together, anger filing his gaze. "They're trying to crack the Skasas Paradigm."

Iris frowned, having never heard of it, but judging by his face — it was nothing good.

"The Skasas what?" Sarah Jane asked.

"The...god-maker," the Doctor explained. "The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter; yours to control."

"What, and the kids are like a giant computer?" Rose asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes," he let out a low growl, turning and pacing the floor. "And the chips, oh, you didn't try them, Iris, you'd have noticed. So good at that — but the chips are a way to accelerate the student's intelligence and learning power with the Krillitane oil."

"Works as a conducting agent," Iris faced him, watching him pace. "Makes them smarter, more clever."

"But that oil's on the chips," Rose pointed out. "Like you said, Doctor, and I've been eating them."

"What's fifty-nine times thirty-five?" The Doctor asked her.

"Two-thousand and sixty-five," Iris and Rose answered together.

Iris shrugged at Sarah Jane's baffled look. "I like math."

"Oh my god," Rose's eyes widened at her own answer.

"But why use children?" Sarah Jane asked. "Can't they use adults?"

"No," Iris answered. "Kids have not yet significantly developed the executive brain regions, which result in impulse control, awareness of social judgement, and mental filtering," she explained quickly. "This change happens around ages 9-10, which results in children becoming less willing to do creative things and that makes them stand out from their peers and society, and their creative expression may become more realistic rather than imaginative. There's also the whole growth of myelin thing, throughout the human brain as we age, making people think less flexibly and take less risks. With most of these students the Krillitanes are using being in the primitive teenage years, there's a hint of rebellion there that's perfect to tap into with the natural creativity. Mix that with programming the Krillitanes have already outlined, enhanced food to ensure heightened intelligence and they've got everything they need to crack the code."

The Doctor nodded. "The god-maker needs imagination to crack it," he agreed. "They're no just using the children's brains to break the code, they're usig their souls."

"Let me at 'em," Iris stood defiantly. "I once trapped a bat in a trash bag, can't be that different."

The Doctor smiled down at her. "You did what?"

"I was really proud of it," she elaborated. "It was going after Seb, and he just kept waving his cane around," Iris put her hands together to really showcase the scene, waving it around. "And I was like eleven, and I told him that he couldn't see the bat and the Charlie lectured us both for opening the basement when we shouldn't have, but really it was my fault, I just wanted to see what was down there. And then I took his cane, and a trash bag and said bam, bat!" Iris pointed her hands to a grinning, very amused Doctor. "And then the bat flew at me, like full attack mode, and I took the trash bag, flew it over, and then bam! Tied a knot and it was stuck. Animal control came and took it away and then I had a rabies shot."

Rose and Sarah Jane looked at Iris in complete fascination and confusion, as though she were the strangest person they'd ever seen. The Doctor laughed lightly.

"Did you name the bat?"

"Psh, of course," Iris rolled her eyes. "Business Acceptance Testing, BAT for short." At Rose's frown, Iris elaborated. "I was going through a software developing phase, don't ask."

The Doctor guffawed and shook his head fondly. "Oh, that's funny, I get it. Clever."

"Humor is not often found when discussing such matters," another voice spoke up. Iris and the Doctor frowned, exchanging a look before looking to the man.

He wore a suit with a red tie and slicked back hair — but he didn't look like a Krillitane. This must be Finch.

"Let the lesson begin," he continued, eyeing Iris. "Interesting," he commented. "She has a touch of it in her."

"What?" Iris asked with raised eyebrows. "Sorry, let's play that back."

"Think of it, Doctor," Finch continued, ignoring Iris. "With the paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands."

"I was never good with Playdo. I think it's the autism, I hate my hands all sticky and gooey and, bleh," Iris commented to Rose and Sarah Jane, making a face. "I preferred Legos."

"We can shape the universe and improve it," Finch continued, glancing to Iris with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor took Finch's attention back to him. "The whole of creation with the face of Mr. Finch."

"Yikes," Iris grimaced. "No offense dude, but if I could have my choosing, it would definitely be Ryan Gosling or Steve Carrell," she glanced at Sarah Jane, who looked to her in bewilderment. "I have a weird type."

"Call me old-fashioned," the Doctor glanced to Iris, a smile tugging at his lips. "I like things as they are."

"You act like such a radical, and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order," Finch pointed out. "Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good."

"What, by someone like you?" The Doctor asked with a smirk.

"No," Finch replied immediately. "Someone like you."

"Bum, bum, buuuuuum," Iris whispered, watching the two with wide eyes. "Crowd goes wiiiiild," she whispered.

"The paradigm gives us power," Finch pushed on. "But you could give us wisdom. Become a god at my side."

"There's only one god, ma'am," Iris referenced a superhero movie she'd found in the TARDIS a few weeks prior. "And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked quietly, shooting her a glare.

"Sorry," Iris cringed, closing her mouth to be quiet.

"Imagine what you could do," Finch stepped towards the Doctor. "Think of the civilastions you could save. Perganon, Ascinta, your own people, Doctor. Standing tall. The Time Lords...reborn."

The Doctor's face was blank, but his posture was tense. Iris took a step forward and slipped her hand into his, feeling more comfortable with this version of him than the ninth. He squeezed her hand gently, appreciating her comfort.

"Doctor, don't listen to him," Sarah protested.

"And you could be with him throughout eternity," Finch looked over the Doctor's companions, settling his eyes on Iris. "Purity only runs so deep," he commented. Her face grew into one of shock, head spinning at his words.

So similar to what Louise had told her? What did it mean?

"Young," Finch looked back to Sarah Jane and Rose. "Fresh. Never wither, never age, never die. Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes."

"Goodbyes are what makes the hello's so wonderful," Iris countered, thinking of each time she and her Doctor separated and reunited and how happy he made her by simply being in her life. "Without goodbye's, you never appreciate the journey."

"How lonely you must be, Doctor," Finch's eyes flickered to Iris. "Only seeing her when the universe wills it. Imagine seeing her as often as you'd like."

"I could save everyone," the Doctor breathed out.

"Yes," Finch encouraged.

"I could stop the war."

"No," Iris squeezed the Doctor's hand, looking up at him. "You're better than this, than him. The universe is meant to expand and implode and explode, and stars are meant to burn before they consume everything in their path. He doesn't want to watch the stars, Doctor, he just wants to tie them down and stop them from ever burning at all."

"She's right," Sarah Jane spoke up, looking at the Doctor meaningfully. "The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world or a relationship. Everything has its time, and everything ends."

The Doctor squeezed Iris' hand tightly, keeping her tethered to him. Then, he let go, inhaled deeply, and rushed past Finch, grabbing a chair and tossing it at the projection screen.

"Mic drop," Iris mimicked dropping a mic and shrugging at Finch's furious look. "Didn't think you had him, did'ja?"

"Out!" The Doctor shouted, grabbing Iris' hand again and pulling her across the classroom and down the halls of the school.

—

Iris, the Doctor, Rose, and Sarah Jane met up with Mickey at the bottom of the staircase, a young student behind him.

"What is going on?" Mickey asked hurriedly as screeching — that was oddly reminiscent to primates, Iris noted — echoed around them.

"Uh oh," Iris observed the three Krillitanes — which, were, in fact, giant bats — soaring down the halls and jumping from wall to wall towards them.

The Doctor pulled her away quickly, the group rushing down the hall, the Doctor pulling Iris along the windowed hallway and opening the door to the cafeteria.

The Doctor let go of her hand to pull out his sonic, stopping in front of a locked set of double doors.

Finch and his Krillitanes were quickly following behind, opening the cafeteria entrance and filling the air.

"Are they my teachers?" The student asked.

"Yeah, sorry," the Doctor nodded.

"We need the Doctor alive," Finch informed his people. "As for the others, you can feast."

The Doctor slipped an arm in front of Iris, backing her behind him. She moved out from behind his grip and grabbed a chair, him doing the same — only after sending her an exasperated scowl — and she began swinging at the Krillitanes as they soared down.

A laser beam cut through the air and shot one of the bats down. Iris turned her head quickly, beaming when she spotted K9.

Finch let out a loud, piercing screech, but Sarah Jane grinned.

"K9!" She exclaimed.

"Suggest you engage running mode, Mistress," K9 called back, ears wagging.

The Doctor didn't hesitate. "Come on!" He shouted, dashing out of the cafeteria, leaving K9 to take on the bats as they ran. His hand found Iris' again and he tugged her along with him, yanking her into a classroom, the others following behind.

He dropped her hand to sonic the door and lock it close. Iris panted, leaning her head back against the door.

"You're all about the running," she commented. "I'm more into exploring. Last thing I did was meet Oscar Wilde," she panted. "He's not as great as he seems," she told Rose, Mickey and Sarah Jane. "Solid two out of ten, don't recommend. Very misogynistic."

—

"Think, think, think, think," the Doctor leaned against a table, eyes connected to Iris. "Cracking Skasas Paradigm. Pretending to be teachers to use students for imagination."

"Physiology is still large bats, but Finch prefers human appearance," she added, retightening her ponytail. "They've put oil on fries to enhance—"

"—The oil!" The Doctor exclaimed. "That's it! They've put oil on the chips. They've changed their physiology so much often even their own oil is toxic to them."

"Hence the dinner lady Rose mentioned," Iris recalled. "Okay, if they put it on school foods, there's got to be barrels of it or cartons of some sort."

"Right, right," the Doctor agreed, looking to Rose. "How much was there in the kitchens?"

"Barrels of it," Rose answered.

Iris jumped away from the door as scratches formed against the wood, loud screeches echoing behind it.

"Okay, we need to get to the kitchens," the Doctor formed a plan. "Mickey—"

"—What now?" Mickey scoffed. "Hold the coats?"

"I do not trust you with this," Iris responded. "No offense, but it's an authentic German U-boat jacket and I don't know you."

"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school," the Doctor directed Mickey. "Now, then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?"

"Bright lights, high noises, sonic frequency emitters," Iris answered quickly.

As if reading her mind, the student elbowed the fire alarm and she nodded. "Nicely done, kid."

"I'm Kenny."

"Iris," she winked at him. "Get ready to run, Kenny."

"Yes, ma'am."

The Doctor grinned at the noise, opening the door and running past the Krillitanes, the group following quickly behind, though Iris took the rear to cover Kenny.

—

"They've been deadlocked sealed," the Doctor exclaimed as he attempted to sonic open the oil barrels. "Finch must have done it. I can't open them."

"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser," K9 spoke up. "but my batteries are failing."

"Right, everyone out the back door," the Doctor nodded. "K9, with me." He looked to Iris as Sarah Jane, Rose, and Kenny rushed towards the exit. "Keep them safe," he met her gaze.

Iris nodded and raced after his companions, closing the door tightly behind her, hit with the blinding sun in the parking lot.

—

Iris stood next to Sarah Jane and the Doctor, who watched with forlorn looks as the students, Rose, and Mickey cheered after the explosion. She reached over and grabbed Sarah Jane's hand.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor offered softly.

"It's alright," Sarah Jane shrugged. "He was just a daft metal dog." Her voice choked up. "Fine, really."

"It's not your fault," she relayed softly, offering a kind smile. "K9 made his decision, and he made the best call he had the ability and capacity to make. Be proud of him."

Sarah Jane nodded, wiping tears as the Doctor pulled her to his chest, her hand still wrapped in Iris' grip.

—

Iris followed Rose and Mickey into the TARDIS, looking around at the familiar interior. Her nose crinkled up the slightest bit, missing the cool blues and sleeker metal of her Doctor's, but she was growing accustomed to the warm oranges and moodier tones.

The Doctor had gone out to get Sarah Jane, and Iris climbed up the ladder, seating herself over the edge, digging around in her pockets for a snack.

A pack of aquatic gum sat in the bottom, and she dug it out with an excited grin, dancing a bit in place and opening one, popping it in her mouth.

"You've redecorated," Sarah Jane commented as she entered.

"Do you like it?" The Doctor asked hopefully.

Iris' head tilted side to side, looking around.

"Oh, I do, yeah," Sarah Jane nodded. "I preferred it as it was, but it'll do."

"I love it," Rose spoke up, grinning.

Iris ate another gummy shark. "You should get a bookshelf," she called down.

"That's why I have a library," he looked up at her, frowning. "Are you snacking again?"

"You just had me run for like twenty minutes and you're mad when I'm snacking?" She scoffed. "You owe me chips," she pointed down at him. "I was supposed to get them at the little shop but they were cold. I'm running on gummy sharks and jelly babies."

"Why're you up there?"

Iris shrugged. "No seats down there," she looked down at the four, laughing softly. "You guys look like little ants. Fee, fi, fo, fum," she pointed to the Doctor. "Remind me that I want to meet Sir Arthur Sullivan."

The Doctor thought for a moment. "Is it because of your name?"

"Yeah!" Iris grinned, swinging her legs back and forth. "I want to see his face when I hum 'the tempest' in really low tones and then introduce myself as Iris."

"You're a menace, I can't take you anywhere," he grinned up at her.

"Doctor," Rose cut in, looking between the two with a plastered smile.

"Hey, you," Sarah Jane spoke to Rose. "What's forty-seven times three-hundred and sixty nine?"

"No idea," Rose responded as Iris quickly did the math.

"Seventeen thousand, three hundred and forty-three," she answered after a beat. "That's another gummy shark earned for me."

"Is this how your brothers raised you?" The Doctor asked, patting the ladder as Sarah Jane and Rose conversed. "Get down from there, you'll hurt yourself."

"At least I wasn't raised in a barn," Iris mumbled her retort, climbing down and ignoring the Doctor's scowl. "Kidding!" She grinned up at him teasingly.

"Doctor?" Rose asked quietly, giving him a pointed look.

"Um," the Doctor clicked his tongue, looking to Sarah Jane. "We're about to head off, but you could come with us."

Sarah Jane breathed out shakily. "I can't...do this anymore," she admitted.

The Doctor's smile fell and Sarah Jane cleared her throat.

"Besides," she said excitedly. "I've got a much bigger adventure ahead. Time, I stopped waiting for you," she looked to the Doctor, "and found a life of my own."

A beat.

"Can I come?" Mickey asked.

At Sarah's surprised face, he shook his head. "Not with you." He looked to the Doctor, eyes flickering to Iris. "I mean, with you," he looked back to the Doctor. "'Cause I'm not the tin dog and I wanna see what's out there."

"I don't like that analogy," Iris frowned. "K9 just saved all of us, so I think you'd be lucky to be a tin dog."

Sarah Jane smiled over at her, and Mickey's shoulders straightened a bit at her words. Only Rose rolled her eyes.

"Oh, go on, Doctor," Sarah Jane encouraged. "Sarah Jane Smith, and Mickey Smith, you need a Smith on board."

"Okay, then," the Doctor smiled, Mickey's face pulling into a grin. "I could do with a laugh."

"Rose," Mickey's smile fell as he watched his girlfriend — Iris wasn't sure, she thought that was mentioned, but maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her — look away with a frown. "Is that okay?"

"No, great," Rose replied bitterly. "Why not? Maybe Iris can come too?" She scoffed.

Iris raised her eyebrows, not quite understanding Rose's statement. "Oh, uh, yeah, no, I've got a, uh...other Doctor, I thought we covered this?" She glanced at her watch. "In fact, I think I'm meant to meet him for lunch in ten, so we should hurry this up."

"I'd better go, too," Sarah Jane nodded, pulling Rose into a side-conversation.

The Doctor glanced down at Iris' snack. "You better eat real food, soon, you're going to crash from the sugar."

"Sugar and spice, everything nice," Iris smiled up at him. "That's what good girls are made of."

"Where'd you hear that?" He asked incredulously.

"Poster when I was six," Iris shrugged. "Hey, I'm meeting my Doctor in Bristol, 2007, October. Still today. Just a different place, think you can manage?"

"Of course I can," he scoffed. "You act like I'm incapable."

"Welllll," Iris dragged out, stuffing her snack away and walking towards Sarah Jane. "Hey, wait up!"

Sarah turned around with a soft smile, looking at Iris kindly.

"You can't leave without a goodbye," she chirped.

"It's been a pleasure, Iris," Sarah Jane grasped her hand gently. "You don't see it yet, but," she glanced to the Doctor, who was talking to Rose, and then back to Iris. "I've never seen him like this with anyone."

Iris smiled, pulling Sarah Jane into a hug. "I'll make him visit, yeah?"

Sarah Jane squeezed her gently. "I'd love that." She pulled back and placed her hands on Iris' cheeks. "Goodbye, Iris."

"See ya soon, Sarah."

—

ahhhh i love school reunion<3 hopefully this was good!!! i enjoyed writing it. also love tenris smmmmm omg but you guys are NOT ready for ireleven (?)  ghahhhhhh we get him soon, but not quite yet. next chapter is 12 because i be missing himmmm and then another 10;)