Episode 8: Virtual Reality Part 2

Zac runs over, and sees Kaylie on the Television. He touches the glass where her fingertips are. Suddenly, with a great swishing noise, Zac is sucked into the TV too. He and Kaylie land in a heap on the floor of earth.

“Zac, Zac, oh my God, Zac!” Georgia cried frantically “speak to me!”

Georgia touches the screen too. She is also sucked in. All three of them, stuck in Virtual Reality, forever.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Conner are in the post office. There is an old lady behind the counter.

“One first class stamp please,” Conner smiled.
“There you go dear,” the lady replied, handing over the stamp “anything else?”
“No thank you, err-?” the Doctor said.
“Dorris dear,” Dorris said.
“Err- Dorris. Thanks.”

Conner walks over to a revolving stand, showcasing Virtual Reality.

“Odd thing for a post office,” the Doctor commented “you don’t normally see games for sale.”
“Oh that,” Dorris said “everyone’s selling them. Even the greengrocers. He’s a handsome lad… They were just brought to our shops with a note saying ‘pleese sall tankyou.’ We just assumed the writer was Irish. Wrote how he spoke. By the next hour, every shop in London was selling them.”
“Pretty quick deliveries for the whole of London,” the Doctor said “I couldn’t even escape from the village of Dibley in that time. It took me an hour and fifteen minutes if you wanted to know.”
“That crazy vicar,” Conner mused “I just wish our post was like that.”
“Dorris, can we have one of these please?” the Doctor asked.
“Of course dear,” Dorris smiled “they’re not expensive. The company seems to be giving them away.”

The Doctor handed over some coins, and Conner posts his letter. Conner notices a certificate hanging on the wall.

“What’s that for,” he asked, pointing.
“I got an award for knocking out a burglar with a bag of potatoes;” Dorris smiled “he was going to rob the electronics store across the road.”
“Come on Conner, let’s go check this out,” the Doctor said.

He grabs Conner’s arm, and hauls him out of the shop.

“What a nice man!” Dorris exclaimed.

The Doctor and Conner are outside the post office.

“Blimey, I wouldn’t mess,” the Doctor grinned.
“Tell me Doctor,” Conner said grinning as well “why do we want one of these?”
“Don’t you think it’s suspicious?” the Doctor asked “someone who can’t write English correctly, the super-fast delivery, and they’re practically giving them away.”
“So you think we have an alien with an out of date guide book, super-fast delivery skills, and he’s very charitable? I’d call that a bargain salesman me self,” Conner said.

Lisa flung herself sideways, avoiding the huge mammoth foot. At the cost of winding herself, Lisa had escaped. She ran on, for what seemed like hours. Later, Lisa reached the edge of the desert. She walked into the bamboo forest, remembering the House of Flying Daggers- one of her favourite films. She just hoped there wouldn’t be the same outcome as the film- where the young heroine dies.

Clyde Langer walked into the attic of 13 Bannerman Road. He saw Luke Smith, one of his best friends playing the game Virtual Reality. It had been a good idea of Clyde’s to buy Luke this then. Sarah Jane walked into the room.

“Mr Smith- I need you!” she called.

The brick wall revolved, and Mr Smith appeared with a loud fanfare.

“Honestly Mr Smith,” Sarah Jane frowned “you’re being childish.”
“Sorry Sarah Jane, but the fanfare is fused into my circuits,” Mr Smith apologised.
“And how did that happen?” Sarah Jane asked, with a slight smile on her face.
“Luke and K-9 extrapolated the original matrix and encoded it with the sound waves,” Mr Smith explained.

Luke looked at Sarah Jane apologetically. She merely looked bemused. Luke went back to playing Virtual Reality. Clyde went over to join him.

“So you like the Game eh?” Clyde asked.
“I think it’s fantastic, I understood how the whole thing worked by Level 2!” Luke said happily.
“Great,” Clyde muttered “so what Level are you on?”
“I’ve finished the Game twice already, and I’m on Level 1 of my third Game,” Luke said “I keep taking different routes, so I have to do different things. The Game is massive. Does this improve my social status?”
“Sort of,” Clyde said thoughtfully “but don’t become a computer geek. Just say you’ve played it once, and you’re on Level 5 or something.”
“OK,” Luke said, getting back to playing.

Sarah Jane was discussing the latest problem to Mr Smith. Sarah Jane had gotten him to bring up all the people in London who had disappeared. She didn’t yet know why, but it was her job to find out.

Conner looks at the game, while they walk down the street back to the TARDIS. He sees the front cover, the flips the case over.

“In this new game, blah blah blah. No, wait! Look, the game’s sponsored by the Spidership! Umm… Anyway, where were you?” Conner asked.
“Not everyone wants to buy dodgy top up cards for half the price!” the Doctor frowned “and what’s the Spidership anyway?”
“It’s-” Conner began.
“I want to check this out in the TARDIS myself,” the Doctor interrupted.
“And the TARDIS will tell you if our dealer’s items are dodgy?” Conner asked, grinning.
“Exactly.”

Bleurgh! Harry puked up the rest of his lunch. After his gut busting ride, it was all Harry could do to stand up. Bulba (the little blue alien) had told him that everything had gone as usual, if not a little rougher. He had given Harry a box of the Games, and some alien technology. Activating the teleport, Harry began his first delivery.

Maria Jackson ran over to her mum, and gave her a massive hug. It was a while since she’d seen her- in fact, last time she saw her mum Chrissie, they had saved a Space Pig, which Chrissie had nearly spotted. Maria’s dad, Alan frowned. He disliked Chrissie being there, as she had divorced him, and ran off with a man named Ivan.

“How are you sweetheart?” Chrissie asked.
“I’m fine mum,” Maria smiled.
“Has your father been feeding you?” Chrissie asked “or have you been disappearing off to Sally Anne’s for food? I wonder what she eats…”
“Mum she’s not an alien,” Maria said, annoyed at how Chrissie always got Sarah Jane’s name wrong “she eats normal food.”
“Now whatever would make you think she was an alien sweetie?” Chrissie asked.
“Nothing.”

Alan looked purposefully at Maria behind Chrissie’s back. She didn’t know that Maria had saved the world from aliens many times before.

“Anyway,” Maria said “I’m off to Sarah Jane’s. Luke wanted to show me something. A Game or something.”
“Now you be careful, there’s something I don’t like about Mary Jane,” Chrissie said, letting Maria out of the hug.

Maria walked out of the house, and headed for Sarah Jane’s attic.

Dorris settles back down behind the counter. She noticed the Television screen flickering, so she went over to have a look. It was in place for people to have a quick test of Virtual Reality, to convince them to buy it. Dorris had thought of it herself, and she was certainly proud that Mr Doritt hadn’t thought of it. Touching the games console, Dorris felt a strange feeling come over her, as if she’d just tasted one of Mrs Scully’s brandy cakes.

(Mrs Scully had had rather an embarrassing divorce from her husband, who could currently be found driving around the M5 with a young blonde in a sports car- he was 86. Ever since, Mrs Scully had enjoyed her cakes, with, Dorris suspected, a little more brandy than there should have been in them.)

“Oh my!” Dorris cried, as she was pulled into Virtual Reality, which, really, is no place for an old woman like her.

Dorris awoke to find herself in a desert. Nearby, there was a crashed wagon, like those seen in the old American films, where everyone says yee hah! Also near the wagon, was an enormous, coal black snake, and it had spotted her.

To be continued…