System Shock

Justin Richards

1995

The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane find themselves in 1998, twenty years later than they had been aiming for. After Sarah Jane made the Doctor promise not to interfere they settled in for a couple of pints. But they found things getting more exciting when a young man barged through leaving chaos and confusion behind. When a woman followed a few minutes later, demanding to know where he had gone the Doctor wondered whether it's really getting involved if he doesn't mention the CD that had been slipped into his pocket…

Finally catching up with her target, Johanna Slake adjusted his air intake system so it was no longer able to perform its operation effectively. Only once Sutcliffe had been adversely terminated was it clear that the CD he'd stolen from I2 was missing.

When the Doctor and Sarah Jane followed the woman back to her offices, they were startled to be abducted by a pair of gentlemen who were not quite crass enough to order them into their car. Precisely. Once they were back at their destination it became clear that they were being hosted by MI5 who wondered about the interest they were showing in I2. After verifying their identity, the Doctor and Sarah Jane are introduced to an old friend. Harry Sullivan had transferred to MI5 and was tasked with finding out what was going on at I2 with OffNet. With the Doctor around, Harry knew he was going to get his answers and they would, um, not be what he had been anticipating…

And, indeed, amongst the Management Speak that infested the Board at I2, an otherworldly plot was revealed.

Has Earth left it too late to free itself from enslavement by its technology?

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