Short Trips - The Doctor Who Audio Dramas

‘...but,’ the Time Lord sighed, ‘apparently the computer’s far too busy evolving
towards sentience and becoming a new life form. So Dillion and Landon are stuck
where they are for ever more...’
Susie-Jo began to sign frantically.
‘Don’t worry, Jo,’ the Doctor said soothingly. ‘All we need to do is create an
exit subroutine for Dillion and Landon to access and they’ll be back with us in the
land of the living in no time. Luckily, you see before you a tireless worker with an
unparalleled knowledge of every and any kind of computer system perfect for the
task at hand,’ the Doctor declared, ‘and they are more than up to it.’
He grinned at Susie-Jo, who grinned back.
‘Wait are you waiting for, K9?’ the Doctor shouted. ‘Get to work!’
Susie-Jo rolled her eyes.
Landon strode with purpose through the virtual landscape. Dillion followed, but
at his own pace. He had no idea where they were going, just making their way
across the neon red grid, superimposed against the swirling liquid mainframe.
Although there was no ground to speak of, they seemed to heading down a long,
winding hillside. The impression was reinforced by the fact that they were
walking along a seemingly endless row of doors, each one in its frame, hovering
in mid air as if the buildings they should have been attached to had all popped off
for a moment. Landon seemed to be following the line of doors to its conclusion,
even though the line apparently went on forever.
‘I thought you said you didn’t know the way out,’ Dillion remind him.
‘I still don’t,’ came the unhelpful reply.
‘So where are we going?’
Landon sighed and increased his pace. ‘I’d be worried you were showing signs
of neural collapse if you didn’t behave this stupidly all the time.’
Dillion hurried to keep up. ‘Are we just following these doors for the hell of it?’
‘I told you that, unless we reinforce your sense of reality, your mind could be
lost in the wetware forever. Please, tell me you remember that much.’
‘Remember what? Just kidding!’ the Canisian added quickly.
‘In order to reinforce your sense of reality,’ continued Landon through gritted
teeth, ‘we have to find something to keep your attention focused.’
‘Ah, that’ll be why it’s been such a long search.’
‘Precisely,’ the Time Lord agreed, then frowned at Dillion’s self-deprecation.
‘You could have told me that earlier,’ Dillion remarked.
‘I think you’ll find I did tell you that earlier. There are amoeba on gas giants
that could grasp the concept quicker than you...’
Suddenly, without either of them noticing, the line of doors had suddenly
come to an abrupt end. Although the string of doors behind them suggested
they’d wound their way downwards, strangely Dillion felt as though they’d
reached the summit of a mountain.
What’s more, the last few doors were different from the usual featureless
panels, looking more real and solid and they might actually lead somewhere. The