Pay the Piper ( comic story ) Summary . Part 1 : Pay the Piper . The Doctor and Clara have arrived at the Temple of Infinite Profit on the Seventh Moon of Koth , maintained by the money - worshipping religious order known as the Mandalax Tide . This religious order has a collection plate the size of Birmingham , and it has acquired a Matter Translation Portal . On the psychic paper , the Doctor has received a message from the other side of the portal reading , " Have you heard the Piper pay ? " Sensing the fear and desperation in the message , he and Clara enter the portal . They emerge in the Obsidian Mainframe , where people can submit goods from anywhere in the galaxy ; these goods are converted into energy , sold , and turned back into matter in a portal to the buyer . The Doctor and Clara are similarly information as opposed to matter right now , though death in the Mainframe applies to the real world as well . Using his psychic paper , the Doctor is able to determine the approximate location of the message sender . As Londi Kalo drives the time travellers in his taxi , the Doctor expresses dislike for the money obsession prevailing in the Mainframe , though Clara points out the importance of money for healthy living . Meanwhile in the Nucleus of the Obsidian Mainframe , Norbo Lakka attempts to welcome Donaria Strul , a wealthy , proud being who claims to despise flattery . The Doctor traces the message to Auction House # 9999 , an infamous building where people have been rumoured to enter without exiting . Londi , having already agreed to a full day with the Doctor and Clara , nervously enters alongside them . Inside the Auction House , the travellers observe several bidders , including holographic heads of bidders who cannot afford being there in person . The Doctor repeats the physic paper ' s question to Steward Hazz , who gives him and Clara masks and escorts them to the Incognito assembly . The masks are actually encryption screens that block any form of identity trace , as no one wants to be seen there . . . Mr Minus appears at the front of the room , selling a group of five telepaths known as the Kindred of Fel . To save the creatures from becoming food ( the power of telepaths can supposedly be transferred by eating ) , the Doctor bids an absurdly high amount on them . Telepathically communicating with the Kindred , he discovers that Mr Minus took them from their home world and disallowed them from hearing each other , putting them in a state of perpetual loneliness . The Doctor threatens to have Mr Minus arrested , but Mr Minus responds by automatically engulfing his hand in fire . He repeatedly swipes at the Doctor , getting him into pieces and eventually destroying him altogether . . . Part 2 : Sweet sorrow . An angry Clara steps on stage and demands Mr Minus bring the Doctor back , a task he claims impossible . Instead , Mr Minus offers Clara for bidding . Despite Mr Minus ' claim , however , thanks to his use of data regeneration ( comparable to cloning , but used on digital codes ) the Doctor miraculously assembles himself nearby Londi ' s car . Thanks to his link with the Kindred , the Doctor is able to see the selling of Clara , who the bidders view as delicious - looking . The Doctor realises her only chance of escape would come if he bought her , and he orders Londi to take him where he came from . Meanwhile , Strul expresses disbelief at Lakka ' s claim that the Mainframe is limitless . After all , it has never dealt with any real crisis , and may not know how to cope were one to come . . . As Mr Minus explains to Clara , he came from a society that appreciated beauty and shared everything . Mr Minus was frustrated by his lack of assets of his own , and became obsessed with greed . After telling this short tale , Mr Minus starts the bidding for Clara . Suddenly , the TARDIS arrives on the scene . The Doctor offers to bid the TARDIS starting at only five pounds , and the bids start coming in incredibly fast . After a few mere minutes , the bids are in the quadrillions , flooding the system and putting the entire Mainframe in danger of crashing . To cope with this potential danger , Lakka is forced to shut down all operating systems . Even without power , Mr Minus has ways of killing the Doctor . But before he does so , Clara frees the Kindred from their chains , allowing them to spread their thoughts . They send their feelings of pain , fear and loss to the entire audience , allowing it to share something for the first time . Mr Minus too appears to be recognising his true , sympathetic self for the first time . Seeing this potential catastrophe has also convinced Strul not to invest in the operation . However , the Doctor ' s TARDIS gets its final bid . Just as the Doctor and Clara attempt to enter the vehicle , it vanishes . . . Meanwhile , Lakka and Strul are discussing the Doctor . The latter notes that she purposefully pointed the Kindred in the Doctor ' s direction , as the two beings transform into their real selves : Danny Fisher and Annabel Lake respectively . Patrick Lake explains that they can now monitor every transaction in the Obsidian Mainframe . He also notes that the aliens were saved , and the Doctor gets a heroic moment . . . " everybody wins . " Plot . " to be added " References . " to be added " Notes . " to be added " Continuity . " to be added " External links . " to be added "