Steve's mind was suddenly clouded by memories of his earliest days as the world's first "Six Million Dollar Man." An image of a crotchety older man with a cane flashed across his mind's eye as did his intrinsic feeling that there was something 'off' about this man – something strange. He didn't seem normal, and Steve wondered if he was all he presented himself to be. It was as if he had ulterior motives somehow. Sure, he wanted to utilize Steve as a sort of Guinea Pig in order to run tests on him to see if his body and psyche could accept the implants he'd ordered, but Steve was never truly given a reason why. Austin still wondered if it all went beyond the espionage missions he'd been sidetracked with during the first year he was mastering his bionic parts.

Perhaps the wine, women, and war routine had been diversions for something far more nefarious. And where had this man, Oliver Spencer gone? After he oversaw Steve's initial surgeries, and after Steve proved to any and all nay-sayers that he could utilize his new hardware with little to no problem, Oliver Spencer seemed to vanish entirely, and so did Steve's long-ago love interest, Jean Manners. Where had they gone, and why? And how is it that he hadn't really noticed?

More memories came to Steve's mind as the Doctor filled him in on the bizarre histories of the Cybermen. Steve seemed to recall that Oscar was nowhere to be seen in his early missions, and even Rudy Wells seemed to look different. Why was that? Were his memories solid, or had they been altered somehow, and why did the words Mondas and Moonbase floating around in the back of his mind?

"Colonel Austin?" the Doctor asked, no longer grinning his toothy smile. "Colonel Austin, are you alright?"

Steve was jarred by the questions, and was surprised to see that the Doctor wasn't sporting a large fur coat of black or playing a recorder. WHAT? This made no sense to Steve whatsoever. Nor did the idea that the Doctor once sported a shaggy mop of solid black hair and a thin, black bow tie. He'd never met this man before in his life! Why would he think he should look like that, or play a recorder?

"I – I'm fine, Doctor." Steve responded, suddenly perspiring. He did his best to look as though all was well. He raised an eyebrow. "In fact, for lack of a better word, I'd say I feel…excellent." The faux smile fell from Steve's face now, as suddenly as the Doctor's had, and the Doctor eyed him quizzically, as if he'd said either something very odd or something very familiar.

"Let's continue," the Doctor said, looking over at the Brigadier and the other men in the room. He then proceeded to make an attempt to explain to Steve how the Cybermen seemed to have multiple origins or, at the very least, multiple looks. It was all a bit confusing, even to the Doctor, but the fact remained that the beings existed, and it was clear they were now in Area 51. At the thought of it, Steve Austin's bionic parts seemed to vibrate somehow, and he had a fluttering sensation that he was in danger of losing control of them at some point. But he wasn't afraid. In fact, he thought the idea was…excellent.

TO BE CONTINUED…