In The Realms of the Unreal

Chapter 21

The rest of the group had been excited upon hearing they'd be heading to the future. They'd all been up at the crack of dawn and had piled into the TARDIS, the moment they'd finished breakfast.

As they hurtled through the time stream with baited breath, Emma turned to the Doctor

"So where in the future are we actually going?"

"Mega City One or as it's commonly known, The Sprawl!" the Doctor told her "By the beginning of the next century, it's one of the largest cities on the planet and stretches right across the east coast of the USA"

"Is it technologically advanced?" Scully asked him

"Oh yes" the Doctor nodded "The technology's far far greater than anything any of you can even possibly imagine. And someone in it, the rune we're looking for may or may not be located"

A few seconds later, the TARDIS shuddered "And we're here! Get ready for a front row seat for the next century!" the Doctor grinned before dashing out of the TARDIS. The rest of the group quickly followed him.

When they emerged, they were rather disappointed.

"So this is our future?" Emma nodded "I must say, it's not exactly what I was expecting.

The group were standing inside a large warehouse of sorts that was filled to the brim with old electronic equipment. The building was dimly lit by an electric lighting which flickered on and off at regular intervals

"Ya know, when you told us we were gonna see the future, I kinda thought it'd be a little more...Glamourous" Mcclane sniffed at the air. It smelled hot and oily.

The Doctor ignored him and whipped out his sonic screwdriver. He frowned

"Looks like there's some sort of signal emitting nearby"

"What kind?" Scully asked "The rune?"

"No it's definitely computers" The Doctor told her "The only thing is... it seems a little bit obsolete. In fact it almost resembles the computers of your time"

Mulder held up his hands "Wait, I thought the technology in the future was way more advanced then ours"

"So did I" the Doctor replied "So either I've miscalculated or someone around here has a fetish for old technology"

"Well we're not gonna find out by just standing here" Jerry said "Let's take a look around"

Walking around the warehouse gave Jerry the creeps. Seeing all the broken computer systems and other destroyed technology gave the impression of a vast graveyard for machines.

"And you think the rune's gonna be in this place?" Jerry asked the Doctor

"I'm not sure" the Doctor replied "I'd estimate it's somewhere in this timezone, but where exactly is the real question"

Elsewhere in the warehouse, a trio of people were setting up equipment for an experiment. Not just any experiment however, but one which could see the return of one of the greatest intelligences ever created

"So where do you want these RAM chips?" one of them asked her companion who was busy installing a Yamamitsu ZXB to the underside of one of the consoles.

He pulled himself out from underneath it and wiped his forehead

"Just take it to the deck over there and leave it."

He then looked at the third member of the trio who was currently monitoring a series of screens and snapped his fingers to get his attention

"Yo! Anything on our tail?"