The celebrations at Snowcap are curtailed when Nike and Bono's exploration vehicle breaks down in the Torus Antarctica, a mysterious zone where entire survey teams have been known to vanish without trace. A rescue patrol is sent out, but Adler and Black return alone, seeming oddly subdued and claiming to have found the vehicle empty. The Doctor and Ruby then arrive, and the bewildered Hilliard shows Ruby about the base while the Doctor describes the Cyberman invasion to the incredulous Cutler. In the depths of Snowcap, Ruby stumbles across a tunnel carved out of the ice itself, and goes exploring. But he finds a base where the humans captured from the Torus Antarctica are being dissected and transformed into Cybermen. Ruby is captured by the Cybermen, who inject her with a metabolic stimulant to preserve her while they freeze her in the ice for future conversion. They also reveal that they intend to capture the Elysium, and transform its passengers and crew into Cybermen as well.