From the Vault Ep1: The Pier

## Episode

It is midday in Los Angeles, California and new couple Dan and Alexa (both former Torchwood operatives who left following the defeat of the Live Control Agency) are on a beach on vacation - Dan then asks Alexa "What made you fall for me?" Alexa responds after a pause: "I fell for you because I was lonely."

Dan looks confused, "Lonely? you we're anything but, granted you weren't really yourself when we met but you seemingly felt something towards me that I never could do, what did you see in me?" Alexa pauses again like she doesn't really know how to handle his question: "You were different. You had an aura about you that was very special to me, I just didn't know it at the time but after everything we saw over all those weeks I decided you were who I wanted to be with" - "So you think I'm special too?" Dan says, looking at her trying to keep a straight face during this heart to heart.

Alexa smiles and then hugs him "Of course you are, now stop messing around and just kiss me!" Dan just turns red "We're in public..." Alexa tilts her head "Does it really matter? we're not hurting anyone!" Dan looks around the beach to see if anyone is looking and after some encouragement from Alexa the pair kiss romantically and Dan seemingly enjoys it, his facial expression suggest he has never kissed a girl in this way before, following the kiss Dan just says simply "Oh...my...god, I just kissed a girl" to which Alexa jokingly says "You virgin" to which he replies "I am not a virgin, I just have never done this before but I really enjoyed it, I think I'm gonna need more practice though" with a laugh, he clearly is trying to cover up his lack of relationship experience, Alexa then laughs, going along with it and just simply says "Sure, you keep thinking that."

Elsewhere on the nearby pier, which has an amusement park on it, people can be seen enjoying themselves - a man called Adam can then be seen with his family enjoying the afternoon on the rides. As they do so, three men dressed in black hoodies and shirts enter the vicinity, one of them is holding a dog crate, they aren't really noticed by anyone at first but eventually a woman notices them and she is a mother with young children. She alerts the attention of the attendant on duty - the attendant (the security guard on duty at the pier's amusement park) doesn't really want to but because its his job he wanders off to find the men.

Adam and his family continue to enjoy the amusement park's attraction as he takes his kids onto the Ferris wheel attraction however the attendant has already walked up to the three criminals and he has one of them under control, the criminal with the dog crate says "Get away...last warning" the attendant notices the edgy-ness of the criminals "No sir, you three aren't supposed to be here - there are kids here" he warns them. The criminal with the gun says "Shut up or the dog dies" the attendant just looks at the crate to see that isn't moving, the criminals surprisingly let the attendant walk up to the crate, he opens it to discover that it's empty - the criminals then grab the attendant and point their guns at him while the other criminal takes off with the crate - the attendant then notices that one of the criminals pulls out a strange device and presses a button as bright lights blind everyone including the children on the rides - the attendant is left with burn marks on his face while the criminals look around in surprise like they had no clue what the device does.

Alot of screaming and crying can be heard as people following the device's antics, Adam however seems fine as he tends to his family trying not to panic however things keep getting a stranger as formally dressed man appears and stares a hole through Adam, "Hey, how are you lot enjoying the rides huh?" Adam just looks at the man in terror "Was this your doing?" he asks, the man just shrugs in response "No but I know what did, I'm here for a different reason" he says with an air of formality.

Back on the beach, Alexa can be seen showing off Dan some of her expensive bracelets she wears like she's trying to show off her wealth to Dan which is very awkward for him.

On the pier, the man walks up to the scarred attendant "Oh dear, you don't look so good" he then picks up the strange device and presses the button shining the strange light of it into the face of the attendant, the attendant yelps in pain as the man takes out a black lighter and burns the attendant's face - he screams in pain.

Adam continues to help the people effected by the strange device, he then runs down some stairs to try and find help on the beach just to find Dan and Alexa who are still hanging out, the panic in his voice is clear as he says "Sorry to bother you guys but there's a problem on the pier", Dan's ears pick up "Really? where? show me" like he wants to get back into the Torchwood lifestyle, he even stands up ready to go however he is grounded by Alexa who reminds him that Torchwood is in their past and that they promised each other to never go back into what they call "the strange side of planet Earth" - Adam waits for a definite response from Dan and Alexa who seem to be talking as if he wasn't even there. "Maybe, I don't know" says Alexa as Dan tries to persuade her.

Adam just starts pleading "Please, my family is up there" as he continues to argue his case for them to help him, the man stands on the pier looking at Adam, Dan and Alexa from a far with a hint of a smirk on his face like he knows what they're arguing about. "You both chose your ways, now make your choice." the man says to himself menacingly - Adam explains to Dan and Alexa on the beach that there is a strange man harassing people and taunting people, Adam even notices the man looking at the three of them from the pier shouting "LOOK!" as loud as he can - Dan and Alexa look over to see the strange man looking back at them, Dan stands up immediately ready for a fight but Alexa just sighs and closes her eyes with Dan and the man staring each other at a distance.

The man on the pier continues to stare but is distracted by the police who arrive and surround him after one of the amusement park visitors presumably called them "HANDS IN THE AIR" the police shout at the man who just stands there like he expected this to happen.

Adam takes Dan to the bottom of stairs whilst Alexa remains on the beach not interested in the current matter as Adam and Dan listen in to what the police say however the man talks instead like he's trying to keep control of the situation he is in "Now now officers, I don't want to do anything to any of you, you are of no interest me personally." he manages to keep his calm voice despite the situation and the panic around him "My friends here on the beach are the ones I'm interested in, get them off the beach now otherwise you will be cleaning them off the beach in body bags and also tell them to stay out of my business." The police seem horrified at the threat the man just made so close in on him "Sir, you are coming with us whether it is in your personal interest or not" they insist as the man just looks at them "Oh dear officers, do you really feel that way?" he says in a mocking tone, the man holds up the strange device once again as the police demand he puts it down, as he does so the people start protesting and yelling at the two lawmen to let the man go "You will regret this" one of them says like they know what will happen.

Still watching at the bottom of the stairs that allow people access to the pier Adam notices the device "Oh my god, he's mad" Dan just responds "You only just realized that?" The man flips out a different button which this time shuts off the lights all around the pier using what appears to be electromagnetic energy from the device and then runs over to a group of drunk teenagers hanging around a isolated area - upon him running the police open fire on the man when he dives into the crowd and then they and everyone else run for their lives to get to safety with the police ceasing fire immediately so they don't harm any civillians.

When the chaos clears, Adam takes Dan onto the pier in an attempt to show him what the device did however when they arrive everyone effected by the device is standing around like nothing happened however they all seem a bit out of it, Adam points out his family and Dan walks up to Adam's family with Adam in tow "Hello guys, my name is Dan, I'm here to help" they don't respond to him though standing there in a daze or even looking in the right direction, Adam almost breaks down in tears he waves in their faces desperately but no response, he notices the man watching them from the crowd who seems to be enjoying the situation, Adam then sees him coming towards them with a nasty smile "Hello my name is Julian and I don't believe we have met." Instead of introducing himself, Adam just launches himself at the man and attacks him with punches, he is stronger than he looks and brings Julian to the ground as the crowd around them continues to stand around seemingly idle.

Julian is seemingly offended by Adam's aggressive actions so goes for a button on the device however Dan notices this and pulls Adam off Julian who presses the button emitting some sort of energy pulse, the stairs to get back down to the beach are not an escape option now for Adam and Dan, Dan just says to Adam "Trust me" as he runs with Adam to the end of the pier before making them both jump off, this catches the attention of Alexa who notices the two falling in, they hit the water with a big splash and that's the last sight anyone has of them for a few minutes.

Realizing her boyfriend is in danger, Alexa finally gets up and runs over to get as close as possible to where Dan and Adam fell in without going in, she doesn't want to risk the water either, Alexa says to no one in particular "I TOLD YOU THIS IS WHY WE PROMISED EACH OTHER NOT TO GET INVOLVED IN THIS KIND OF SHIT" she seems angry as she rants to herself "Adam and Dan are out there somewhere and that crazy fuck is still up there, who knows what he will do next." Alexa then seemingly has some sort of flashback to her time under control of the Live Control Agency and also her time at Torchwood, two very contrasting organizations, this hurts her head - she again screams out to no one in particular "THIS IS WHY I STOPPED" this time in a very low tone.

Alexa shakily then climbs the stairs to confront the man called Julian who seems to be anticipating her arrival, he mocks her for not helping Adam and Dan and says he would have let them live but he like others interfered in what he calls his personal business, Julian continues "And now you have to suffer for your own choices, fun place eh?" Julian then shows her the people effected by the device he has with him explaining that some common criminals wanted a payday so they brought the device here so he could use it on the guests as mere tests to see what the device does as he admits even he doesn't really know what power it is capable of.

Alexa asks curiously to see if she can get any answers out of him "Where did you find it?" Julian responds "On the black market, it just appeared on there one day but I felt like it could be useful to me and I was right as you can see." he grins. Alexa doesn't respond she just takes a moment to think before asking another question "Can you control the people with it?" Julian pauses before answering "No" he says a little more firmly like he is more comfortable talking to Alexa then to Dan or Adam, he points out that once someone is affected by the device their brain essentially fry's causing them to lose all sense of thought, direction and the control they previously had over their actions, he also says he feels a great sense of power when using it.

Julian then says menacingly "But I digress, whats the point in telling you if I can't show you" he presses a button and points the device at Alexa who screams in agony however instead of the device doing what it did to the other people on the pier, she finds herself moaning like a zombie, her eyes turn completely black and she is heading towards the man called Julian - he says menacingly "I told you I could stop this from hurting you but that isn't fun." Alexa seems confused as she asks quietly "What are you doing?" Julian responds "Making you a mental slave, now if you want to stop this from happening you need to comply." He gloats over the power he has over her "You want me to stop controlling you? Well theres a first time for everything" he laughs before telling her to stop talking and just follow his commands.

Suddenly the click of a loaded gun can be heard as a soaked Dan stands behind Julian "LET...MY...GIRLFRIEND...GO!" Dan orders, Adam also appears behind him pointing a pistol at him, Julian says "Hmm, someone is a little more difficult to control than the rest isn't she boys?" He glares at Alexa for a moment, Alexa struggles as the device continues to shine on her causing her transformation into Julian's mental slave to accelerate, she is now literally being controlled by signals from the device.

Julian snarls at Adam and Dan "Good slaves are hard to find these day, you'll regret not coming with me" Dan just shouts back "LET HER GO" and before you know it a shot is fired hitting Julian in the back, the shot comes from Adam, Julian falls heavily to the ground and Dan swears as the device falls out of Julian's hand thus turning Alexa back to normal, Dan can then be seen helping his girlfriend up.

Dan says to her "What made you so keen then?" Alexa responds simply "Flashbacks" meanwhile Adam goes over to Julian who begs for the device before being ruthlessly kicked in the head by Adam, the device begins to shake and throws itself to the nearest available person like it needs to be held to even survive, the nearest person happens to be Dan who finds himself holding it but its too late as Dan turns the device on her, she screams as the same thing that happened to her happens to her again, she is completely controlled and follows all of Dan's orders.

Adam begs Dan to stop saying that "You're not yourself dude, let the device go" this doesn't work so he just screams in his face "YOU'RE HURTING YOUR GIRLFRIEND WHAT KIND OF MAN ARE YOU?" Dan seems conflicted like the device has connected with his mind as he looks at it for a moment and then to Alexa who is now being forced to dance in front of them all by Dan - Dan then orders Alexa to fetch him Julian while still controlling Alexa like a puppet with him now also seemingly acting as voice for the device "If you want to see your girlfriend again do it!" Dan still seems completely at the device's mercy and Alexa is now at Dan's complete mercy and will do whatever he says "Yeah, okay Dan" she walks mindlessly picking up Julian.

Julian explains that the device can latch onto people like a leech or a parasite and that he knows this because after he brought it from the black market, the device was forced onto him, it made his mind weaker and he had a hard time even holding a phone as it controlled him acting as its puppet. Dan comments saying "The power of suggestion has incredible strength, don't you think?

Adam speaks up again saying "LISTEN TO ME DUDE, YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT DEVICE, I THINK YOU CAN OVERCOME IT, LET GO!" - "You don't know what you're talking about" is all that the device replies as he hears Alexa whimpering in the background as she holds onto Julian.

Dan's voice is used by the device once again "If it makes you feel any better, have your family back" it says without mercy before it releases all the people originally effected by it, Adam is overjoyed by this and seemingly forgets about the whole ordeal as he rejoins his family which annoys Julian who sarcastically thanks him for nothing.

Dan is still being controlled by the device whilst in turn Alexa is still being controlled by Dan, her eyes are once again black and her arms are wrapped around Julian - Julian then realizes what Dan and Adam did to escape him originally and proceeds to free himself from Alexa's grasp before pushing Dan off the pier, Dan hits the beach and the device falls out his hand

Alexa returns to normal and holds her head whilst Julian looks over the edge of the pier, expecting Dan to be dead - Dan lies there in pain as the device lies beside him, an echoey voice emits from it "Humans...need humans" it says before turning off. Alexa pushes Julian out the way whilst Dan, who seems to think that he has survived this by pure chance, thinks "Guess we should just leave it here then..." Alexa disagrees and proceeds to pick up the now de-activated device so it doesn't take control of her "Maybe we should put it somewhere it doesn't bother anyone else" she thinks before throwing it into the sea.

Julian however makes his way back to the crowd of people, likely thinking that he has also escaped the device "Where are you going?" Alexa asks as she holds Dan, who is visibly shaken, to comfort him - Julian responds "I'm handing myself in, I've hurt too many people..." Alexa just simply dismisses him as he is the one that started it all and goes back to comfort Dan.

Dan explains to her that the device could read his thoughts which is why he took control of her whilst under the device's control but strangely because the device sensed their love for each other he understood what the device desiredhe explains that the device desired companionship but not in a good way as him and Alexa know it, it desired companionship in a controlling way.

Dan also says that the device was indeed not man made but rather some kind of alien thing, "who knows what it could have done if it was still on the black market" - Alexa tries to comfort him as normal "It's alright, we're both okay now."

Dan nods saying "I guess its true what they say: once you sign up for Torchwood, you never can really leave" Alexa looks at him oddly "So...joining back up again is an option?" He smiles "We never left stupid...how do you think I got my hands on that pistol?"

Alexa just remarks "True, maybe in my own mind we did...did we ever find out what the device itself was?" she asks curiously, Dan shakes his head but recalls whilst with the Torchwood Institute he encountered a device similar to what they saw today when he was in hiding in Portugal.

"There were hundreds of them in some underground base under the ground, I don't think we found out what it did exactly but I remember the people in the base saying something about changing the weather, how wrong they were" Alexa frowns "Not helpful" she scoffs.

Dan continues "Whose to say those Live Control people didn't start putting them on the black market knowing what we know about them now they don't exist anymore?"

Alexa looks at him in silence for a second "So you're just going to make up conspiracies now?"

He shrugs "Sure...why not?"

Alexa doesn't remain serious for long and just laughs putting her right arm around Dan, Dan then says with a smile "We have a vacation to get back to" and they kiss for a few moments.

"Come on, we should get back" Dan says. Alexa replies "I know right, a holiday" the two then leave the beach and can be seen partying long into the night back at their hotel resort, which definitely looks like Alexa paid for it as it looks like one for the wealthy.

As the two party, we see the device at the bottom of the ocean, clearly imprinted on the bottom of the device is the logo of the organisation "Torchwood."

## Characters

* Dan
* Alexa
* Adam