Ghost in the Machine

"Cybermen do not possess morale, and therefore will fight to the last."

Writer: Dave Rudden

Format: Short Story

Released: October 2018

Printed in: Twelve Angels Weeping 04

Featuring: Cybermen, Cyber Controller

Synopsis 

On every planet that has existed or will exist, there is a winter...

Many of the peoples of Old Earth celebrated a winter festival. A time to huddle together against the cold; a time to celebrate being half-way out of the dark.

But shadows are everywhere, and there are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things, lurking in the cold between the stars.

Here are twelve stories – one for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas – to remind you that to come out of the darkness we need to go into it in the first place.

We are not alone. We are not safe. And, whatever you do: don't blink.

Verdict 

Ghost in the Machine was another great story to continue my reading through the Twelve Angels Weeping collection! The Cybermen were obviously a no brainer when it comes to having a volume of short stories featuring some of Doctor Who’s greatest villains and monsters, with them realistically only being second in the hierarchy to the Daleks. This was an intriguing adventure as save from a few lines on the final page, there was no appearance nor even a mention of the Doctor and this was all focused on one special Cyberman in particular. 9.9P-VIV was an interesting designation and I thought it worked well to get some inner workings of a Cyberman laid down in print. I thought it was a good move and actually rather refreshing to explore the Cyberiad as much as we did here as that has a lot of untapped potential since it was introduced on screen. It also just seems logical and well suited to what we know of the Cybermen. Of course it’s efficient to have shared knowledge! The instantaneous way that 9.9P could just upload words or knowledge to the Cyberiad was good stuff and I appreciated it playing a major role. This felt like the basis for a Cyberman spinoff and I could definitely see that happening beyond what Big Finish did with their Cyberman series. Deep down, the Cybermen always feel a little bit vulnerable when it comes to tackling them on an emotional level. That’s pretty ironic given that they’re supposed to be devoid of emotion and it actually being something they pride themselves on. Deep down though, they are comprised of human parts and the importance of their organic nature is tough to shake off. It is surely no coincidence that the Cyber Controller has his brain on display in his helmet! I thought the description of that was tremendous and the make up of his polished torso and what have you made him feel important. He was the Cyberman giving the orders and questioning 9.9P on his inactions to stick to the firing sequence which had thrown everything out of whack. The way the story started on Hyf felt a little odd I must admit as I’m not sure why it was questioned that the Racnoss weren’t compatible for conversion. I mean, just look at the size of them! They’re not exactly going to fit into a traditional Cyber armour suit, are they? Were the Cybermen trying to create a Cyber Arachnid? If that was specified I think it could have been tremendous, but sadly that wasn’t the case. We did get a good battle though and whilst I’m not sure the timing would work out with the Racnoss being as ancient as they are, the description of the race being devoted to their Empress was a nice touch. This was also a fun way to get another villain featured. There was strong talk of the Cybermen doing battle with the likes of Daleks, Judoon and Slitheen, and I must admit that I don’t see either of the latter two causing them much of an issue! Any chance to pit the Daleks and Cybermen against each other though would be more than welcomed in my book. The issue of 9.9P seeing the girl and ceasing firing was intriguing, and I initially thought that once it was obliterated by the blaster that we were getting an origin story for Handles! That didn’t happen but I maintain it would have been great fun and definitely something that could happen in the future. When events moved from Hyf, I enjoyed the conversation between the Cyber Controller and 9.9P very much. The idea of challenging the Controller was good and I thought it was pretty humorous when he repeatedly questioned why he couldn’t be linked with the Cyberiad in full. He wasn’t complete with his body anymore! I thought the build up to the conclusion was good with 9.9P almost becoming consumed by the girl he’d seen that prevented him shooting, only for her not to be seen in the memory bank recording. He was essentially a new Cyberman after having all parts replaced and upgraded, and yet she was still there in memory without any evidence. The ending with the punishment and Peri talking to the Doctor about the Cyberman was unexpected. I was intrigued that the Sixth Doctor knew about the ‘Delete’ catchphrase as we wouldn’t hear that on screen until the Cybermen, parallel versions at that, did battle with the Tenth Doctor! The idea of them wanting to delete the humanity within them was brilliant though. Overall, a great read!

Rating: 8/10