I groaned, trying desperately to drown out the sound of the Daleks. It got rather boring here. In my abandoned ship. In who knows-or-cares-where. I turned up my opera music. (I really was getting desperate.)

After hearing the Daleks moan and groan and yell about wanting to come in–and exterminating the predator–I decided to get up and make a souffle.

Burned. As usual, I cannot cook. I dump another failure into my trash bin, and then make a recorded "Happy birthday" to my mum. I miss her. I miss the company of a human. It's what I long for.

I was tinkering around with something while my opera music was on when I suddenly heard a voice talk to me around the corner.

"Hello? Hello, Carmen? Come in, Carmen!"

"Hello? Yes, yes I'm here!" I enthusiastically replied. I stand up, breathless. "Are you real? Like actually, properly, real?"

"Yes, I am actually, properly real. Confirmed," the voice replied. "Are you okay? What have you been doing on your own… against the Daleks… for a year?"

"Making souffles?" I reply, a little unsure now that he asked.

He chucked breathily. "Making souffles? Against the Daleks? Where do you get the milk?"

The next thing I heard was 'This conversation is irrelevant' and then I lost the signal. "Hello? Hello?!" I gasp, trying to get it back.

The first time I saw the man, I knew, somewhere inside of me, that he was not supposed to be here.

"Souffle girl?" he asked, tapping the eye thing.

"You can always call me Oswin. Seeing as that's my name. Or…" I grinned cheekily. "Is there a word for 'total screaming genius' that sounds modest and just a tiny bit sexy?"

"'Doctor'. You may call me the Doctor."

I smiled and pointed at the screen. "I see what you did there."

"Okay, well, I'm counting three lost cases, anyone else?" Amy asked.

"Do you know how you become a Dalek? Does she seem a bit too angry to you?" I asked the Doctor, gladly sitting far away from the almost-Dalek. Goodness knows how much I hate those things. "Add anger, subtract love."

Amy propped herself up. "Well someone's never been to Scotland!"

I chuckled nervously.

"Oswin, this right here is a teleport, am I right?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah," I responded. "Why?"

"The Daleks up above are waiting up there, and as soon as the shield is lowered they will blow this planet up, us along with it. Oswin, how fast can you drop the force field?" the Doctor asked.

"Pretty fast." I calculated. "But why would I?"

"It would be simpler. Just drop the force field and come to us."

"How do I know you will wait for me?" I pressed.

"Why wouldn't I?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. Never met you. Sending you a map of my coordinates now."

"Oswin, I think I'm getting close," the Doctor said.

I peeked around the corner and looked at my screen "You… are!" I said. "That's the good news."

"And the bad – which I suddenly fear is coming?" the Doctor said.

"You are about to pass through intensive care," I said, then rattled off the names listed on my screen. "Ringing any bells?"

"All of them," the Doctor replied.

My curiosity was piqued. "Yeah?"

"They're all battles I fought in. These are the Daleks who survived against me," he replied through slightly gritted teeth.

"Doc-tor." They started stirring.

"That's weird. Those ones don't usually wake up for anyone," I said.

"Yeah, well, special visit," the Doctor said. "Door."

"Oh, that is cool!" I giggled after a moment of tinkering. "Tell me I'm cool, chin boy."

"What did you do?" he asked me, seeing the Daleks retreat.

"I found the door button," I offered.

"No, tell me what you did to the Daleks," he asked.

"Well, the Daleks have a sort of hive mind," I started.

"Pathweb, yes," he broke in.

"So I hacked into it and did a master delete of everything related to 'the predator,'" I explained.

"I've tried hacking into the pathweb, even I couldn't do it," the Doctor commented.

"Well, come and meet the girl who can!" I smiled. "And here comes the door!" I jumped out of my chair and began gathering my stuff, then paused and looked at my screen. "You're right outside, come on in!" I invited.

He was poised by the open door. "Oswin, I think we have a problem," he said sadly, slowly walking in.

"No we don't," I said with a frantic smile on my face. "Don't even say that. I've wanted to see the stars all of my life. Got stuck in a shipwreck first time out." I ran up to my chair. "Rescue me, chinboy, and show me the stars!"

But I didn't get an answer; instead, I got: "Oswin… Look around you… Does it seem real?"

I stopped, confused. "Does what seem real?"

"This place. Where you are," he said softly.

"Of course it is," I said stubbornly. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Oswin," he started on the speech that changed my life, "this isn't real. It never was. It was all a part of your imagination. You made it up because the truth was too terrible for you to bear. Because you are a Dalek!" he said, venom coating his voice.

I looked around my room, not seeing the asylum, but seeing my shipwreck. "I am not. A Dalek," I said, my voice breaking into weird phrases. "I am not a Daaalek! I am HUMAN!" I cried.

"The milk. The milk and the eggs for the souffles. Where, where did it all come from?" the Doctor asked me.

"Eggs," I said, thinking about how to make the souffles.

"It was never real, Oswin," the Doctor continued.

"Eggs," I started again. "Eggs."

"Oswin?" the Doctor asked.

"Eggs…ter…min…ate. Exterminate!" I cried.

"OSWIN!" the Doctor tries to plead. "Please, you don't have to do this!"

I know he's right. That's why I was curled up in a ball by the 'door', crying. "Why do they hate you?" I asked. "They– hate you– so much. Why?"

"I fought them. Many, many times. I've tried to stop," he said.

Even though I was a Dalek, I looked into his eyes with my eyestalk and knew he wasn't lying. We were the destroyers of life, and he was the savior. "Then run," I whispered, getting back onto my feet. I ran towards my console. "I've taken down the force field. The Daleks above have begun their attack."

He looked at me. "Oswin, are you–"

"I am Oswin Oswald. I fought the Daleks, and I am human! Remember me." I opened the door. "Run!" I insisted.

"Thank you!"

I sat in my chair for the final time, the smell of a perfect souffle surrounding me. I did it. I saved the Doctor again. "Run, you clever boy… and remember," I called after him, even though he was gone.