Number 601 observed the strategic materials vaults, and noticed the gates were opened. Error was not a common thing. Nobody he knew from his battalion made even the slightest mistake. After requesting the vault's architectural information from the pathweb, 601 went in.

Emotion was not popular among them. It was always discouraged, save for hate. Hate for everything that wasn't them, that was inferior to them. Perhaps the unit who made this mistake was slightly lower than him now. Micro-units lower, he surmised. Not enough for a demotion.

601 entered the room slowly, analyzing every viewable point from his position. Had he not needed lenses, the items inside the colossal columns would be sparkling in different colors. Colors were irrelevant, he thought. But if they can be used to ease the prospecting of these materials, then so be it.

He heard a sound at the back of his head. The pathweb had returned his request. Carefully, 601 analyzed the vault's blueprint.

Something was off. The gates were automated, responding to the proximity of any registered unit. Advanced safeguards defended the vault from being hacked open, both physically and electronically. The only way to keep the gates open without setting off the alarm was having a registered unit of substantial rank inside.

There had to be another unit, 601 thought. But his scanners found no life signals. All units were equipped with one, signaling their continued existence and strategic importance to high command. Immediately, he primed his weapon. After hearing the confirmation signal, he moved forward. Emotions were not encouraged within his battalion, but he could feel one creeping into his skin. Fear.

He never thought it was possible, feeling fear. According to centuries of study by distinguished scientist units, fear was the first emotion - an acknowledgement of a living creature that many things were out of its control, and that those things may extinguish its existence. Fear was not encouraged, but innovation branches were permitted to feel it. 601 never understood this, and he was not in a position to question his superiors. It was a loophole in their philosophy, he thought, one that he wanted to understand when he earns enough merits to increase rank.

601 moved deeper into the vaults. The pillars encasing the materials were laid out in a grid. It made it easier to spot anything, at least. However, the gates were drawing farther away.

A droning noise from behind caught his attention. 601 stopped, and turned towards the gate. He couldn't believe his lenses.

A silver object, about the same height as he was, quietly made it towards the exit. It was unmistakeable - a scope on top, a gun and a manipulator in the midsection, and sky blue domes on its skirt. A shiver spread across 601's skin. The unit was not emitting a life signal.

"Unit, halt!" 601 said. The strange unit kept moving forward.

"I repeat, halt!"

The unit turned a deaf bulb, and quickened its pace.

601 alerted the pathweb, informing that he was about to shoot. It took two seconds. Just enough for the strange unit to reach the gates.

"Desist! Desist!" he cried, before shooting a highly-concentrated blast of energy. The unit suddenly bolted sidewards, dodging the ray. It crashed against the wall with a loud thud, before continuing out the vault.

"Explain your actions! Explain!"

The rogue unit faced him. Its scope lacked the retinal backlighting all living units have. And its dome was 0.005 degrees tilted forward.

Before 601 could react, the vault gates shut in front of him. He linked up to the pathweb, sending the alert he never thought would be heard in the battalion halls - the infiltration alert. He uploaded all identifiers - no life signal, tilted head dome.

"Acting Commander online," he heard at the back of his head. "Unit 601, explain why you are not mobilized!"

After a fruitless attempt to present his clearance privileges, 601 replied. "I do not have clearance."

Seconds elapsed before a reply. "The gates will be opened upon arrival of privileged units."

"Battalion command possesses an override for all sectors," he said. Was he questioning his superiors?

"Correct. Only the Battalion Commander has permission to use the overrides."

601 was about to reply when he realized. The voice had identified itself as Acting Commander.

"Request for information: where is the Battalion Commander?"

Faint static replied. 601 waited, and waited. His skin started to shiver with possibilities. What if the voice he is talking to was not dalek? It was fairly easy to mimic their voices. But it was not easy to connect to the private pathweb consciousness. Heavily-masked signals with advanced encryptions that change every twenty seconds. There were currently no known species with the capability to do so. Or perhaps there were species that his superiors did not acknowledge. After a millisecond of data bank searching, there was only one species known capable of hacking into the pathweb.

A voice screamed at the other side of the door. "Alert! Alert! All units will assist in the capture of the rogue unit! Capture at all costs! Exterminate the intruder! Exterminate!"

601 sent another message to the Acting Commander. "Request for information: where is the Battalion Commander?"

"Acting Commander online."

"Where is the Battalion Commander?"

Seconds later, "The Commander is deceased. The intruder has acquired his casing."

He droned back in shock. The Commander had the highest rank in the warship with clearances to all sectors. And in extreme emergencies, he can use overrides to every sector. Once the Commander is dead, his unit still possessed all of that. The next in line would have to transfer into the unit, as those clearances and overrides were so vital that even sending them through the pathweb might increase the chances of them being discovered by enemy species. Their security was upheld as the most superior, and yet they feared something that will hack into their pathweb. What did his superiors fear so much that they refused to electronically transmit classified information?

"Unit 601, attention! Search for missing items in the strategic materials vault!"

"I obey!" Have they succeeded? Or were his superiors already doing damage control?

Recalling the path taken by the rogue unit, 601 headed for the deeper left corner of the vault. Something still bothered 601. The details of the Commander's death were not made public on the pathweb. Deaths were always made known. It was best interest for living units to avoid repeating mistakes. However, classifying the details of a dalek's death would mean one thing - the incident itself involved something his superiors did not wish to acknowledge.

Fear was not encouraged. And he was not in the position to question his superiors.

601 wanted to know more. Not knowing made his skin shiver. Perhaps that was why his superiors were so afraid. Something in the universe still remained out of the Empire's control. Even though the rest of the universe continue their inferior existence, the Empire was not wary of any of them.

Except one.

However, that one race never did anything. Just watch from afar. But that was as much as the Empire knew of them. Nothing more. That made 601 shiver.

Who were they?

After droning through the darkness, 601 spotted a pillar with an open receptacle. There was nothing inside. He sent a new message to the pathweb.

"Alert! Alert! Intruder has acquired the battalion's sonic quartz! Repeat: intruder has acquired sonic quartz!"

A/N: Thank you for reading this story. It's not polished, but I just had this idea for a while. This story might be a precursor to another, bigger one. I'm just not sure if I can do it yet.

Have a happy day, reader! :D