Chapter One
A gloved hand glides across the keys on the device that lay in front of the hooded man. Like a pianist playing a classical masterpiece, knowing where each fingertip needs to be at each specific point in time.
The device begins to hum. Lights come on around the room. Around the circular room, are thirteen pods, a light above each. A console stands in the middle of the room facing the pods, a double door is in a slight recess at the edge of the room.
The gloved hand pushes a button and one pod on the end begins to be flooded with a gas. The surface of the pod begins to cool and freeze. The machinery around the pod begins to hum and then there is a blinding light from inside of the pod itself. The humming grows louder and the machinery sounds like it's speeding up. The light becomes brighter for a few seconds before the lights and sounds all stop. There's a moment of silence before there's a series of double beeps, like a heart monitor, but registering two heartbeats.
The hooded man approaches the pod and looks in to the darkness. His hand moves to a switch on the side of the pod, he flicks the switch and a light comes on inside the pod. It illuminates the face of the occupant, eyes closed and mouth slightly open, as if the person inside is sleeping. The hooded man directs his attention to a panel over the pod, checking the readings on the screen. He pushes a series of buttons, each giving off a different electrical beep. The screen changes to show different readings. The hooded man turns away, switching off the light inside the pod as he walks back to his console.
On the console, the hooded man slides a sliding switch upwards and pushes a button next to it. A screen across the room comes on and numbers appear. The numbers change seemingly at random. The hooded man begins to repeat his performance from before. He adjusts four sliders, attempting to tune the equipment. On the screen, some of the numbers stop changing. Eventually, after more tuning, all but one of the numbers on the screen have stopped changing. The hooded man slides the first slider back down and the number rests on a figure. As this happens, the machinery around the next pod along the line hums into life. The process from before repeats itself, the freezing of the pod, the bright light, and then the heart monitor beeps. The hooded man approaches the second pod, eager to examine his prize.
The hooded man flicks the switch on the side of the pod; the light inside comes on and reveals a second face of a man. Like before, the eyes are closed and the mouth slightly open. The hooded man checks the readings on the panel above the pod, just like before, and then returns to his console once more.
Meanwhile, across the universe, a man we know is running for his life. His booted shoes hitting the ground as he runs. The tails of his tweed jacket kicking up behind him. A laser bolt is shot at him, but it misses and hits a wall ahead of him. He is the Doctor in his eleventh incarnation. He darts around a corner as another laser bolt is shot at him, followed by metallic cries of "EXTERMINATE!" The man thrusts his hand inside his jacket and pulls out his Sonic Screwdriver. He points it ahead of him at a closed door. The Sonic whistles into life, but the door refuses to open. The man gets to the door and attempts to use the Sonic again. It fails to do anything, so the Doctor puts the Sonic into his jacket pocket and braces himself against the sealed door. He attempts to push it open, but it doesn't budge. "Oh, come ON!" He screams this last word as he continues to push against the door. It creeks, and opens by a couple of inches. He steps back and attempts to sonic again, but it fails again. "Why aren't you working? It's not wood!" He puts the Sonic away again and pushes against the door once more. "EXTERMINATE!" The Dalek war cry echoes through the corridors.
The Doctor is able to open the door a bit further and manages to squeeze through it just in time for another laser bolt to hit the wall right next to the door. He falls into the room beyond the door and pulls out the Sonic and activating it again. It whistles as the door closes behind him. He stands up, puts the Sonic away in his jacket, runs his fingers through his hair and straightens his bow tie. He walks forward confidently as muffled cries of "EXTERMINATE!" come from the other side of the door.
Back across the universe, the hooded man continues to work his device. The machinery above the third pod sparks and fails slightly, but the hooded man manages to correct the fault and it continues to power up.
The Doctor turns a corner, fully expecting to see his most faithful companion, but he doesn't. Just an empty corridor. He becomes worried and runs to the end of the corridor. He puts his hand out, hoping to be able to feel the wooden exterior of his TARDIS, but his hand falls through the air and hits the wall. The sound of the door that separated him from almost certain death opening causes him to turn around on the spot. He backs against the wall as three Daleks come round the corner after him. Two red Daleks glide along on either side of a White supreme Dalek. It's the White Dalek that does the talking, "YOU HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO RUN DOCTOR, YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!" The Doctor swallows hard, before replying "Well, that all depends on what you mean be escape. If you mean that I have no way of getting out of here with my limbs attached, then you're right, and I don't have a way out, which sort of negates the reason for me saying all of this because I have no way of getting out of here with my limbs attached."
"SILENCE! YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS DOCTOR, YOU SHALL BE EXTERMINATED!"
"Exterminated? My my, how many times have you threatened to exterminate me and how many times have I escaped?"
"NEGATIVE! YOU HAVE BEEN UNKNOWN TO THE DALEKS UNTIL NOW!"
"Yes well, long story on that one, have you got the time for it? I've got plenty! The rest of my life in fact!" The Doctor claps his hands together and laughs nervously. The Daleks stand their ground. "No, you've never been a fan of the humour really, have you, never mind, I'm sure I can find something for you to laugh at, a Dalek, a Cyberman and a Silurain all walk into a bar-"
"SILENCE DOCTOR, YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" The two red Daleks join the white Dalek in chanting their battle cry. "EXTERMINATE, EXTERMINATE!" The white Dalek stops chanting whilst the red Daleks continue. The Doctor closes his eyes, squinting them shut, bracing himself. He lifts his arms, preparing to be hit with the Dalek weaponry. "SPACIAL TEMPORAL INSTABILITY DETECTED!" The Doctor opens his eyes, he drops his arms as he spins around and moves out of the way of where he is expecting his TARDIS to appear. But nothing. He turns to the Daleks, "I thought you said there was a special temporal instability?" The Daleks look at the Doctor, who has begin to glow the same light as the pods. The Doctor lifts his hand up to his face and twists it in the air, examining it. "Well that's new!" There's a blinding light and the Doctor vanishes. The Daleks shift backwards. The Daleks scan the surrounding area, searching for any trace of the Doctor, but there is none. "NEGATIVE SCAN ON TIME LORD DNA". There's a dull bang from elsewhere on the Dalek ship, and then another, and a third. A series of explosions until, the ship blows up.
The hooded man looks over the life signs on the monitor above the third pod, pushing a few buttons to change the readings on screen. He turns his attention to the pod itself, switches on the light inside, which reveals the eleventh face of the Doctor. The hooded man smiles and walks back to his machine, continuing his task of filling the remaining ten pods.