In The Realms of the Unreal

Chapter 5

Shortly after the collapse of the INGSOC government at the end of the 1950s, Britain found itself entering the new decade with what became known as the "Golden age of spying". With the cold war increasingly picking up pace, all manner of spy and policing organisations began cropping up from the US's IMF and U.N.C.L.E to European organisations such as Department S.

Of course, the only problem with all this is; what happens when the spies no longer want to work for you? They can't be allowed to simply retire as their work is too valuable and involves access to extremely sensitive information on a regular basis. Of course killing them was out of the question as it would inevitably end up raising far too much attention. So the joint governments of the world came up with a retirement community for people involved in such delicate operations such as spying and military intelligence to live out their lives comfortably away from society.

The chosen location was a small village in the north of Wales, UK which had previously been used as a prison camp during the INGSOC years. Among it's more notable prisoners were former IMF leader Dan Briggs (who committed suicide by hanging 2 years after being sent there) and NATO spy John Drake who upon being assigned the rank of number 6 repeatedly attempted to escape before suffering a brain aneurism from exposure to experimental drugs during interrogation.

Eventually however, with the cold war declining, the village was eventually abandoned. Mounting costs to running it were also a significant factor in its being abandoned. However the actual village was never put back in to service and owning to a lot of government red tape was largely forgotten apart from the area itself being cordoned off. Of course this didn't stop the occasional thrill-seeker from attempting to break in, but these attempts were largely unsuccessful.

However today was going to be different. In the plaza of the village, a blue telephone box proceeded to materialise out of thin air. Then the Doctor stepped out followed by the rest of the gang.
Emma took a deep breath
"Now this certainly does bring back some memories"
Mcclane looked around
"This dump? Lady all I see is some ruined buildings and overgrown weeds"

Mcclane's description wasn't far off. The village had clearly seen better days. All around the crumbling facade of the once glamorous buildings were the roots and vines off weeds. The floors around them were covered in cracks and to their left was a metal object that appeared to be a sign of some sort although due to excessive rust it was impossible to tell what it had previously said.
"So what is this place anyway?" Scully asked
"It was a sort of retirement community for spies amongst other things" Emma replied "Back in the day there was a running joke amongst the elites of the spying community that if you did bad, you'd be sent to the village"

Walking through the village gave the whole group the creeps. Everything was so quiet, it was unsettling. The whole time, Scully expected some sort of horrible monster to pop out from the shadows and devour them whole. However she maintained a facade of calmness the whole time.
As they walked across what was once the village's magnificent square, Mcclane stumbled over the root of a weed and nearly tripped
"Shit!" he cursed under his breath causing the rest of the group to look at him.
"Careful" the Doctor said grinning "I don't want to be the one carrying you back to the TARDIS because you weren't watching where you were going"

Mcclane looked back at the Doctor "Thanks Doc" he said sarcastically.
"What I'd like to know is how the village ended up in this state" Scully said to Emma "Surely the government or whoever lives here would have wanted it cleared up"

"You'd think that, but sadly it's not the case" Emma told her "The residents cleared out years ago when it became apparent that running the place just wasn't worth the amount of money that went into it"

"Then why didn't the government do something about it?" Scully asked
"Red tape" Emma replied "So many countries were involved in it's running that the whole thing just turned into a mess of international politics. Now they've essentially abandoned it since they've decided that the whole thing just isn't worth all the effort sorting out. Not when there's much bigger issues in the world"

Mcclane suddenly spoke "Hey can we get going. The sooner we get outta this place, the better"



A little while later, the group arrived at a tall building at the top of a hill. It was made of white stone and topped with a greenish blue dome. Back in the day, it had clearly been a much more grand structure, but now it was largely crumbling apart.
"So care to explain what this place is?" Mulder asked Emma
"It was the home of the village's second in command" Emma explained "We're here because inside is an entrance to the underground facilities and that's where we'll find the archives"

"Are you sure the place is still accessible?" The Doctor looked concerned "For all we know, the whole place might have collapsed years ago"

Emma thought for a second "I shouldn't think so. The walls of the cavern were made to last a nuclear attack. After all that was a very real possibility back in those days"

"Then let's find out" The Doctor opened the front door and the group stepped inside.

The inside of the building was just as ruinous as the exterior. The floor was crumbling apart and the doors inside were largely off their hinges. Stepping through the main hallway, the group found themselves in a room made of rusting metal with a huge seesaw structure in the centre
"If I recall correctly, this is the old command centre" Emma explained "The entrance to the underground chambers should be just over there"

The group crept through the crumbling building over to a hatch in the left corner of the room. When they got there, Mcclane stepped over and pulled on it. Immediately the hatch raised up revealing a dark hole in the ground. Emitting from said hole was a dark musky odor that reminded the group rather too much of decaying bodies.
"Let me guess" Mcclane groaned "We've gotta go down there"

"I'm afraid so" Emma replied "The archives are located deep below to protect them from potential thieves and the only way in is through those tunnels"

"Thieves" Scully was concerned "You mean like us?"

"Hey don't be nervous" Emma smiled a reassuring smile "There's nothing down there but dust and rock"

"I hope you're right" Scully grumbled to herself as the group descended into the tunnels.

The inside of the tunnels were very dark although to everyone's surprise the lighting system was just barely working allowing for a very limited amount of vision. As the group stepped through the tunnel, the Doctor whipped out a small gadget and pressed a button causing it to emit a light.
"What's that?" Mulder asked
"It's a little gadget called a Sonic Screwdriver" the Doctor explained "Comes in handy for all sorts of situations."

The group continued to make their way through the tunnels with the Doctor leading. Although the sonic screwdriver gave the group a bit more light, it was still extremely dark. Then as they stepped into another room, the group found themselves up to their ankles in extremely cold water
"Shit!" Mcclane cursed "Where the hell's all this come from?"
"Well we're by the sea" Emma replied "It's possible that some of the walls have begun leaking and-"

"Great" Mcclane huffed "Just when this place can't get any nastier, we get flooded in"

Scully on the other hand had a bigger concern
"Will the archives still be accessible?"

"I should think so"
The Doctor replied "It's not too deep so we might just be in luck"

"If you ask me, I say we just turn around and call the whole thing off" Mcclane said "I swear this place has got enough dust to give anybody asthma"

Mulder rolled his eyes "Will you shut up! Some of us are trying to save the world here!
"
"From what!" Mcclane snapped back "From some dark evil that we don't even know what it looks like? Gimme a break!"

"And what if Mater's telling the truth!" Mulder turned to face him "If we give up now, we're putting the whole universe in jeopardy!"
"Then you go and save it!" Mcclane replied "I've got better things to do with my life then chase after some dark ancient evil in a shit filled cavern where-"
At that, the Doctor held out his hand
"Shush
"
For a second, the rest of the group stared at him
"What is it?" Scully asked unnerved
"I thought I heard something
"

A second later, a noise similar to a roar echoed through the cavern
"What the fuck was that?" Mcclane was now getting scared which for him, was very rare indeed. Then Emma turned around and saw bubbles forming in the water next to them
"Oh christ..." she said "Everybody run!"

The group then watched as an enormous white bubble formed in the water just behind them. However instead of bursting, it floated up from the surface revealing itself to be a giant white orb not unlike a weather balloon and proceeded to let out a terrific roaring noise
"What the fuck is that thing!" Mcclane could only yell before the orb lunged towards the group. Then he joined the rest of the group in fleeing through the cavern.

As they continued fleeing, Scully managed to ask Emma through gasps "What was that?"

"It's a Rover" Emma replied "A security defence unit used in the village to keep order. If I remember, it was made from genetic material found in a creature that landed in a small Pennsylvanian town in 1957"

"Great" Mcclane rolled his eyes "Just when I think this whole scene can't get any worse, I'm now being attacked by giant white bubbles."

"I hope we don't die from it" Mulder briefly turned to see if the Rover was still following them. For now at least, it seemed to have vanished. As the group stopped to catch their breath, he spoke again "People'd be laughing at our funerals."

"So now what do we do?" Mcclane asked "We've gotta get outta this place before the balloon from hell returns"

"Well if you want some good news" The Doctor said between gasps "I think we're near the archives"

"Great" Mcclane said with a slight degree of sarcasm "So how much further?"

"It should be just down the next corridor" Emma told him "If we hurry, we'll be there in a flash
"

Sure enough, the group soon came to a door that had jammed open. The water was still seeping in although it had remained at a consistent level. Without wasting another second, the group scurried into the archives.

The inside of the archives consisted of hundreds of metal filing cabinets that lined all over the room, from the bottom of the floor right up to the ceiling. Upon seeing just how many cabinets they had to work with, Scully sighed
"So where do we start
"
"Well if I remember correctly, the files containing other-worldly threats are right at the east end of the room." Emma explained "So our best bet would be to head in that direction."

After wading their way through the flooded archives, the group eventually reached the east end. Here they were met with just as many cabinets as they'd already passed.
"Okay then" Mulder shrugged "Let's get looking!"

As the group searched through the cabinets, none of them were really sure what they were doing. Mater hadn't given them clear instructions on what folder they were after and for all they knew, they were looking in completely the wrong place. Then as the Doctor opened a cabinet draw on the bottom of a cabinet, he saw a conspicuous red document in among the standard beige folders.
"I think I've found something!" The Doctor called the rest of the group over as he took it out. However when the Doctor opened the folder, the whole group were dismayed to discover that it had largely soaked through with water.
"Well that's just fucking perfect!" Mcclane snapped "Now what are we gonna do?"

For a second, Mcclane seemed to be right. The folder had spent years soaking in dirty seawater and it was nearly illegible. However The Doctor then looked closer
"Hang on. I think there's a few words still there"
As he studied it, the Doctor could just about make out the words black...woods...
"Hang on a moment." he said with delight "I think I've had an idea"


Very briefly, the group were relieved that their adventure could continue. This relief however was cut short by a familiar roaring sound.
Turning around, all Mcclane could say was
"Oh shit"
S
tanding right at the end of the cabinets was the Rover unit from earlier. As it began to bounce towards the group, the Doctor yelled "Run for your lives!" 
In reality he had no need to do so as the group immediately began sprinting as fast as they could towards the archives exit.

For a while, it seemed like they'd make it out. Then Mulder tripped and fell face down into the flooded floor. As he pulled himself up, the Rover managed to attach itself to his foot causing him to scream
"Mulder!" Scully was the first to notice and grabbed Mulder's hand. She then began frantically pulling him in a desperate attempt to stop the Rover from consuming him. The rest of the group soon joined in and for a moment it looked like Mulder would actually make it out.
Sadly though, the Rover's strength was just too strong and group quickly realised they were fighting a losing battle. Then just when all seemed lost, the Doctor noticed a fire extinguisher just next to the wall.
"Hang on" he thought "If it's made from the same material as the creature in Pennsylvania-"


Quick as a flash, the Doctor leaped over and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Although it was an older design, it appeared to still be working. With one fell swoop, the Doctor sprayed the foam all over the Rover. Soon it began to withdraw. As Mulder pulled himself free, the Rover shrunk back into the waters and disappeared.

As Scully helped Mulder to his feet, Mcclane turned to the Doctor
"How the hell did you know that was gonna work?"

"Just a hunch" The Doctor told him "The creature it was originally made from was destroyed in a very similar manner. So I took a little chance which more than paid off "
The Doctor then brushed himself down
"Now if you're like to follow me back to the TARDIS..."


"I thought you'd never ask!" Mcclane laughed.

Notes:

The Village is from the cult 1960s tv series, The Prisoner
Department S were from the 1960s tv series of the same name
The incident in Pennsylvania refers to the 1958 b-movie The Blob
John Drake was the lead character of the TV series Danger Man played by Patrick Mcgoohan. Since he also played number 6 in the Prisoner, a popular fan theory is that they're the same character which I decided to run with