Safe from the danger outside, at least for now, I turned to survey the room I'd locked myself into. It was mostly scientific equipment of various kinds, but I didn't stop to inspect them any closer, for standing in front of me was another figure in a full body suit. I adopted a wide legged fighting stance and held the sonic probe in front of me like a weapon. If it was anything like the creature outside it wouldn't care, but at least the pose made me feel a little more confident. Surprisingly, the figure seemed startled, which is difficult to convey when you're wearing a baggy suit and your head is covered. I eased up on my posture as the figure removed his helmet. Underneath the mask was a young, 30 something year old male, with a well trimmed ginger beard and the kind of hair that refuses to remain tidy. Something about him seemed unusual, but I couldn't place it.
"People! Person people. Person. You." He answered, excitedly. "I didn't think anyone else was alive."
"Calm down." I said, reassuringly. I'd slipped the probe back into my jacket and held my palms up, nonthreateningly. "Let's start from the beginning. What's your name?"
"D-d-Derek" he replied.
"Nice to meet you Derek. My name is Arven. Now, can you tell me what happened here?"
"I dunno much, really. It was a few days ago, but I've kind of lost track of time. I was in this lab, prepping a few samples for experimentation, when I heard this crash from the corridor. I looked out through the porthole and saw Paul on the ground with his cart knocked over. There's very little peripheral vision in these masks." He explained.
"I think I came across him, yeah. So what happened next?"
"Well, I activated the containment seals on the lab. It's protocol, you see. There are sensors that do it automatically, but we also have manual controls to lock down any room we're in if we suspect a containment breach. Some of the samples we have here are dangerous. 24 hour automatic lockdown."
"You can say that again. Your friend Paul tried to kill me on my way in. Wouldn't listen to reason. He's been infected with something."
"Nonsense. He's dead. I've seen him through the window. Hasn't moved since the accident." Derek said, flustered.
"Go check now then." I said, pointing to the door. As Derek moved to the porthole, I continued. "I've just examined him. Practically no pulse. No higher brain function. Basic motor function. Compulsion to bite."
"What? No! This cannot be... I mean, what you're describing is the ramblings of superstition and voodoo. We're not working on anything as outlandish as that here." Derek reached the porthole. "My word! Paul's alive. Oh wonderful, must have been passed out for some time. The man's just delirious and starving. What happened to his leg? Did you do this?" Derek pointed an accusatory finger at me.
"He was trying. To. Eat. Me." I responded. "If you open that door, he'll attack you too."
My words fell on deaf ears though. Derek was already swinging the door open to greet his injured colleague. He reached down to help Paul before recoiling with rapid pace.
"Bugger! Took a nip at my ankle!" He cried, hopping on his remaining good leg. I armed myself with the probe once more, this time sliding a protective cap from the base before holding it in reverse. A reality of Torchwood is that we don't always have the skills or luck of the Doctor, so sometimes we need to even the odds. I jammed the exposed end of the probe into Paul's neck, discharging 50,000 volts into his system. Part screwdriver, part taser. Just because I'm Torchwood doesn't mean my weaponry has to lethal after all.
"Right. No idea how long that'll keep him down. So we need to be fast." I announced, while crouching down to inspect Derek's leg.
"What's the use?" He sighed.
"It's barely a scratch. The foil suit took most of the brunt. It'll bruise bad enough but the cut isn't deep."
"Doesn't matter. You were right. He's a zombie. I've been bitten. It's over."
"I don't think I was actually. Tell me, what are you actually researching here?" I asked.
"Antibiotics. Specifically, how various diseases develop immunities to them. We were attempting to stay ahead of the curve as it were. It's a constant arms race between antibiotics and diseases with resistance to said drugs. This is our version of the Manhattan Project. Develop antibiotics such that bacteria cannot become immune. Amongst some other ongoing work on devising cures of course. That's why security is so strict here. We don't want any of our disease samples getting out, as some strains we have here nigh immune to anything."
"Very well. One final question. Do you by any chance happen to have a metal plate in your skull?"
"What? How could you possibly? Yes. Car crash in my late teens. Stupid, boy racer stuff. Really opened my eyes and made me cop on. For all the good it's done. Here I am, death row anyway. Borrowed time, I suppose."
"Thanks. I've got some good news for you though. You see, something about you has struck me since I've barged in here, and I've just put my finger on it. You have a small scratch on your left temple."
"So?"
"Look at Paul. He's got some kind of tech implanted there on the same spot. As did the receptionist I passed on the way in. I thought at first it was some kind of monitoring device, internal security, but you don't have one. I think something latched onto Paul. It tried to latch onto you, but your head's too thick."
"Oi!"
"Point being, it's not a virus. It's not airborne, or transmitted through saliva. It's a creature. Taking control of people's bodies, making flesh puppets. Something machine. Something alien."
"Alien?!" Barked Derek incredulously.
"A few seconds ago you were convinced of the undead. Now is not the time for skepticism."
"So, I'm not going to die from this bite?"
"Exactly. This little robot parasite couldn't take control of you, unlike everyone else."
"Yeah... but... why? Why here? What purpose?"
"No idea. But I've seen a creature. It kidnapped a few students including my girlfriend. The trail led me here, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it."
"Then, could me in. If this thing has killed my colleagues, it deserves to be stopped."
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