The Sound of Our Voices ( comic story ) Publisher ' s summary . Still trapped aboard the SERVEYOUinc research satellite , Alice and the Doctor must unravel the mystery of the creature codenamed " ARC " — while staying one step ahead of its whisper - quiet rampage through the station ! But there ' s something essential the Doctor ' s missing — something he ' s overlooked . Can Alice help him see it , in time to save her life . . . or is the story of the Doctor ' s favorite sarcastic library assistant doomed to end in the icy depths of space ? Plot . In a toilet of the United System Research Base , a bulking strange shape towering above John Jones keeps saying : " ARC , ARC . " Clearly impressed , Jones asks if it can play guitar . Just as the creature tries to touch Jones , Alice Obiefune shouts for him to move and sprays the creature from a fire extinguisher . With both the creature and Jones temporarily blinded , Alice tells the latter to go towards the sound of her voice and not let the creature touch him . Alice is happy she managed to save Jones ' life , but he is not sure . He thinks the creature just wanted to be friends . Left alone in the toilet , the creature tries and with difficulty succeeds in repeating Alice ' s phrase : " the sound of my voice " . In the interrogation room , August Hart is pointing his gun at the Eleventh Doctor while Dr Janet Rutherford is hiding behind the Doctor ' s back . Holding his sonic screwdriver in his right hand , the Doctor says it will be hard to explain . Thinking that the Doctor pleads not to kill them , Hart begins outlining a rather standard cover - up story : Dr Rutherford is in league with the Doctor , they try to sabotage Dr Ballard ' s great work and Hart has to shoot them when they lunge for his weapon . The Doctor interrupts him , says that he meant explaining how he is going to disable his weapon . At that he indeed disables the weapon with a flick of the sonic screwdriver . Hart switches to hand - to - hand combat , but the Doctor expertly dodges his heavy punches , simultaneously asking what Hart is so worried about . Hart is completely focused on physically hurting the Doctor and does not notice Dr Rutherford sneaking from behind and knocking him out cold with his own now disabled weapon . She ' s afraid she has killed him , but the Doctor assures her that ten years later Hart is absolutely fine . As they leave Hart cuffed to the table , the Doctor shows interest in the " great work " of Dr Ballard . Since Dr Rutherford does not know , he proposes to investigate . As Alice drags Jones away from the gents toilet , she explains that she was in the ladies when she heard the strange sounds ARC makes . She then rushed to Jones ' help . ARC pursues them along the corridor , trying to repeat Alice ' s phrase again . Suddenly , at a junction , Alice and Jones bump into a security guard , who tells them " No running in the corridors ! It ' s against the health and safety . . . " That ' s all he manages to utter before ARC ' s hand extends and grabs the guard ' s head . With his eyes bulging , the guard drops to the ground and lies without motion . ARC tries a new phrase now : " No running . " Alice and Jones actively disagree . Another security guard finds Hart in the soundproofed interrogation room and frees him from the cuffs . He also tells Hart the news that Chief Administrator Peter Cartwright is in a coma . Hart now has the operational control of the station . The Doctor and Dr Rutherford reach the laboratory wing and find an enormous titanium vault - style door protected by a tenth - generation quantum - liquid - deadlock seal encryption blocking the entrance . Dr Rutherford is afraid that whatever attacked Rodney Mellors and others is still inside . And the Doctor confirms he wouldn ' t be able to break through the encryption with his sonic screwdriver . But the door turns out to be unlocked from inside , with a pass code . Dr Rutherford finds it strange as all people were evacuated from the wing . They walk in to find a spacious room with a big square platform lined by white spheres , some of which are broken and exude white smoke , at the centre . Various remotely - operated instruments , including knives , pliers and syringes point at the platform from all directions . The Doctor tests the scientist asking to describe what she sees . Not suspecting a trick , the scientist repeats that she may not get all details right as she never saw this setup before . She then identifies the platform as a containment cube , a force - field for dangerous specimen . The white spheres are power cells , which are burned out , meaning that the field failed or was breached . The Doctor , however , was more interested in the " sharp pointy things " . Dr Rutherford explains that these are probe units that can penetrate the holding field and deliver stimuli such as electric shock to the subject . For her , this is a normal testing facility . The Doctor is completely enraged by this description . To him , this is a torture chamber . He is extremely disappointed that Dr Rutherford can ' t see people behind the experiments conducted . The angry Doctor marches to a computer and , using his screwdriver , quickly finds the relevant information . The file is deadlock encrypted except for the title . But the title is enough : " Notes on Autonomous Reasoning Center " . This explains the " what " , the room explains the " how " and the SERVEYOUinc logo in the corner of the screen answers the " who " . The only remaining question is : " Why ? " Alice and Jones finally reach Hangar 18 , where they left the TARDIS . But instead of the safety of the ship , they find Hart with a security detail blocking their way . Hart orders to shoot their kneecaps to get the Doctor ' s attention . Fortunately , at the same moment the Doctor walks into the hangar from the lab wing with Dr Rutherford in tow . This prevents any violence and , while Hart keeps threatening the Doctor , the latter calmly suggests that Alice and Jones ' distress means they should expect a visitor soon . Indeed , ARC ' s massive bulk appears from the corridor leading to the rec room . Even the Doctor ' s companions are scared , and Hart starts ordering : " On my signal ! Aim and . . . " With everyone ' s attention elsewhere , the Doctor pulls out the sonic screwdriver and repeats the trick of disabling everyone ' s weapons . He is proper angry now and promises that neither ARC will kill anyone nor will the Doctor kill Hart , provided that he stands down . Taken aback , Hart obeys and decides to let the Doctor deal with ARC . Having explained how things stand to Hart using " his " language , the Doctor turns to ARC and suggests that what one needs is " language communication " . ARC repeats the word " Signal " , uttered previously by Hart . The Doctor continues that ARC is not an " it " , it ' s " people " , a sentient being . More than that , the " Autonomous Reasoning Center " , of which ARC is an abbreviation , is a walking and talking mind . The Doctor explains that the accusations against Dr Rutherford were intended to mask years of torture of ARC . Alice asks why then ARC was trying to kill Jones . But there were no deaths , the Doctor corrects her , just comas . " ARC " , says ARC and extends a gigantic hand over the Doctor . Unperturbed , the Doctor continues thinking aloud . What could ARC want from Jones ? Alice suggests it could be revenge . But revenge is too complicated and human , the Doctor explains . A mind like ARC wants to " learn " . All ARC was trying to do was learning information from others . Comas were just an unfortunate side effect . And it seems that ARC is indeed beginning to learn to communicate verbally . As in confirmation , with some difficulty ARC manages to say " the sound of my voice " . The Doctor says that now ARC is trying to understand others by talking to them . Dr Rutherford surprises earns the Doctor ' s praise by finishing his thought that , when you understand , you don ' t need to destroy . At this , the Doctor extends his hand to ARC and introduces himself . Very carefully ARC shakes the Doctor ' s hand and replies with flawless politeness . Cartwright is back in his office and quite happy that the other victims have also been restored from coma by ARC . He thinks that now that they found a way of communicating with the creature ' s mind , they can learn how its body works . Hart asks where ARC is . It turns out that the Doctor volunteered to escort it to Ballard ' s lab . As furious Hart explains that the Doctor has nothing to do with the Ministry , they hear the sounds of the TARDIS dematerialising . Cartwright is not too bothered by this because his job is secure . In the TARDIS , the Doctor and Alice watch how Jones shows ARC around . Alice sees parallels between ARC and the Doctor himself . She also understands better now why he takes companions . The Doctor suggests to take her to her landlord , but she decides to travel some more first . Notes . " to be added " Original print details . " to be added "