"Welcome to Hopies!" the Doctor said, spreading her arms to introduce her friends to splendour of the planet. "One of my favourite planets in the universe... after Earth, of course."
"This seems like something out a movie," said Ryan in shock, as they looked at the futuristic city unfolding before them. The cars flew in the sky, weaving between the glittering towers, as people ran down the street to some commotion.
"What's going on?" Yaz asked, as they saw more people disappear round a corner.
"No idea," the Doctor said. "Shall we go find out?" Before anyone had a chance to offer a differing opinion she was already off, bolting like a child free from their parents. Her three friends followed, trying to keep up with the Doctor in the massive crowd that was forming.
"Hang on," said Graham, looking at the banners hanging out of windows and the flags everyone was waving. "Has there been an election?"
"Impossible," the Doctor said. "The planet's election isn't for another three years."
"There's a banner there saying congratulations to the new president," pointed out Ryan, gesturing to the stage in front of them.
"Probably a title more than anything else," replied the Doctor. "Honorary, that sort of thing."
"Please welcome to the stage the new president of Hopies," said a lady on stage joyfully.
"Maybe this is Topsy-turvy Day?" the Doctor threw out as a last hope.
"My fellow Hopieans," began the man who had walked onto stage and stood behind the podium, struggling to be heard over the cheering.
"Getting harder to believe he's not the president Doctor," said Yaz, giving her friend a cheeky nudge. The Doctor didn't reply, worry crossing her face.
"We are thankful for our recent win in this planet's snap election," the president continued. "We promise to uphold the values that we ran on, values that we believe in, born on Skaro-"
"Hold on a minute," said Graham. "Did he say Skaro?"
"Wait, does that mean-" began Ryan, before his answer was given by the speaker.
"We, the Neo-Kaleds, will escort this planet into a glorious future!" The applause was thunderous, drowning the four new arrivals within a sea of despair and confusion.
"He said Skaro," began Graham, but the Doctor was already beating him to the punch.
"This isn't right," she said, horror written across her face. "This isn't how it's suppose to go at all."
"What's a Kaled?" asked Yaz.
"It was the precursor to the most dangerous beings in all the universe," the Doctor said. "Because eventually the Kaleds... became the Daleks!"
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Doctor Who
History of the Daleks
Part 1
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"Doctor, will you just talk to us," said Graham, as the Doctor ran around inside the TARDIS, fussing over the controls.
"What?" said the Doctor in frustration, before seeing her friends concerned faces. She sagged, learning on the console for support. "Sorry," she said, before sliding down onto the floor. "It's just... None of this is right. Every cell in my body is screaming at how wrong time has gotten, and I need to work out what's gone wrong. What has happened to this planet's history?"
"Well that's easy then, isn't it?" said Ryan. The other three looked at him in confusion. "We just go to a museum," he said slowly, wondering why they weren't on the same wavelength.
"Ryan, you are a genius!" the Doctor said, leaping to her feet and rushing over to give her friend a giant hug. "Sorry, rest of you, I don't think you can make up enough points to beat Ryan here. Come on! Lets find out what's been happening since I was away."
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"When the war finally ended after four long, gruelling years, it was clear that someone was going to have to step up and bring Hopies back to its former glory."
The introduction video to the museum continued to drone on in the background as the Doctor and her friends studied various exhibits around the museum, attempting to absorb everything while lacking a lot of the cultural clues to process it. The Doctor was busy running around the entire museum, seemingly too distracted to focus on just one thing.
"Are you okay?" Yaz asked, putting a concerned hand on her friend's shoulder. "You seem a bit more... agitated, than usual."
"Imagine being in a room with a really nasty smell," said the Doctor. "Or having something really foul stuck in your mouth. It's hard for me to concentrate with so much... time wrongness, just..." She waved her hands ineffectively, trying to convey the scope of her issue.
"So it says here that the kick-off was the death of this one guy," said Ryan. "Sicuck Dramyon."
"Sicuck Dramyon?" the Doctor replied, running over to Ryan and looking at the placard.
"Died mysteriously in his hotel room during a peace conference," read Yaz. "Both sides blamed the other for the assassination, and soon the war broke out."
"Sicuck," the Doctor whispered, gingerly touching the picture of an older man in military dress.
"You knew him?" Graham asked.
"We travelled together when I was all bouncy and charming and romantic," the Doctor said. "He and I gallivanted all over the universe, till he decided to come back home and use what he learned to improve the planet. He was suppose to lead Hopies into a new golden age, one that turned this civilization into one of the greatest in the universe."
"So his death is what triggered the change in the timeline?" Yaz asked. "Why not just go back in time and stop it from happening?"
"Because you can't change events when you become established in them," said the Doctor. She saw her friends confused expressions and pondered, wondering how to explain temporal mechanics to beings that only saw time as being a linear cause to effect.
"Imagine a word document on your computer," the Doctor said. "While it's on your computer you can change it, edit it, fiddle about with it all you want with there being no trace that you did so. But the moment you print it out, those words are firmly entrenched in the paper, and to try and squibble over that could cause you to put a hole through it."
"The paper is the universe aye?" Ryan asked, trying to keep up with the allegory.
"Well, more of the web of time," the Doctor said. "Like a spider-web, where you can cut a few strings, but cut too many and the whole universe falls in on itself."
"You've lost us Doc," Graham said.
"Long story short, we can't go back in time to save him without causing a paradox," the Doctor said. "Which is bad."
"Right, yes," Graham said. "Anyway, his death led to a massive war that only just got resolved a few decades ago."
"That still doesn't explain how the Daleks come into it," said Ryan.
"You might want to have a look at this then," said Yaz, beckoning them over to the strangest statue the gang had ever seen. There were two figures standing tall, back to back as comrades in arms. The first was of a handsome, strong-jawed man, a flag firmly held in one hand, a gun of sorts aimed in the other. Next to him stood a Dalek, a flag awkwardly jutting from its back, appendages raised high in celebration. The Doctor shuddered, revulsion building up inside of her.
"Says here that some guy called Aniton Erecent found some recordings made by the Daleks about their history, tactics, philosophy," read Yaz. "He adapted them to fit his command, and soon his ingenious approach led to a crushing defeat for the enemies of the planet, and soon they surrendered than face the might of the Daleks."
"Sounds like a load of bull to me," said Ryan.
"At a guess I'll say that 'ingenious approach' was killing everyone who got in his way until no one was brave enough to stand up to him," replied Graham. "'Ere, hang on, why did they give the Dalek a plunger? I thought the one on Earth did that because it was desperate for parts."
"No they've always had a plunger," the Doctor said absent-mindedly, already starting to wander to the next part of the exhibit.
"Why?" asked Ryan. The Doctor paused, before turning round, face scrunched in confusion.
"You know, I've never thought to ask," the Doctor admitted. "Always been a bit too busy to have a proper conversation with a Dalek."
"Well whatever the reason is, the people here sure seem to love Aniton," said Graham, as he found the next part of the story. "He established the Neo-Kaleds, building on the philosophy of the Daleks found in the recording, and quickly rode the popularity wave into being elected head of the planet. After that his party has been amassing power, slowly taking control of all branches of government."
"Typical dictator move," said the Doctor. "Get a foothold, then dismantle anything that gets in your way. It's brilliant in its insidiousness. But we need to know what happened recently, in this election. But where can we find that in a museum?"
"We don't" said Ryan. "You find it in a newspaper, don't you?"
The Doctor turned, looking at her three companions with another giant smile on her face.
"Seriously, you two, you need to really step up your game here," she said teasingly. "Ryan is really pulling ahead, I might start leaving you behind."
"Okay, so once we find a newspaper, then what?" Yaz asked. "What are you planning to do?"
"Take down this government and all the evil it stands for," the Doctor said simply.
"You can't just take down an entire government!" Graham said in shock.
"You watch me," the Doctor replied. "Remember Harriet Jones?"
"Who?" asked Ryan.
"Exactly," said the Doctor. "And she was one of the nicer ones."
"But what do you do once you've taken out the government?" asked Yaz.
"Oh things usually sort themselves out," the Doctor said. "Most of the time, at any rate."
"Is there perhaps some sort of middle-ground?" asked Graham. "Where we get them to change their minds?"
"You can't reason with these people," said the Doctor. "I'm sorry, but this entire planet will be better once they're out of power. Hopefully the next lot will put history back on its right course, and we can put all this behind us."
"Hey Doctor, look at this." Ryan held up a pamphlet he found lying on the ground. The other three came over, looking at the unfolded paper.
"So there's a victory celebration tonight, is there?" the Doctor said. "That's exactly what we need. Graham and I can go in and learn what has happened straight from the horse's mouth."
"What do we do?" Yaz asked, as she and Ryan looked at the Doctor in anticipation.
"I want you to to talk to the locals," said the Doctor. "Find out what they think of the Neo-Kaleds, why this party got so popular, that sort of thing. Some local knowledge might be exactly what we need. Lets agree to meet back here in five hours."
The Doctor slipped the pamphlet into her coat pocket and beamed.
"Okay fam. Let's go save this planet."
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"I wish you told me this event was formal wear," said Graham, standing uncomfortably in his daily clothing. "I look like a real buffoon."
"I think you look pretty," the Doctor said, focusing on the stage. Her psychic paper had been enough to bluff their way through the entrance, but now that the dining room was filling up it was clear that they'd soon stick out if not careful. The Doctor spied a group of young men and casually sauntered over, Graham only just noticing that she'd left his side.
"Hello there," the Doctor said with a wide smile. "It appears that the wait staff have forgotten to seat us, may we join you?"
"Of course," said one of the men, a blonde man who had an air about him of a person who had never needed to work a day in his life. "Shan and Tane couldn't make it anyway, there were issues at the club."
"Oh but of course there is," the Doctor said. "I bet the servants were being too disrespectful again."
Graham raised his eyebrow, wondering what the Doctor was thinking about being so bitingly sarcastic, but it was clear that the blonde man had too high of an opinion of himself to presume that other people had their own thoughts and motivations.
"Well you know what it's like," he said with a chuckle. "Nyder's the name, lovely to meet you. That's Falkus, Parran, and Tashek. And you are..."
"I'm Graham," said Graham with a smile. "And my friend here is..."
"Lovely to make your acquaintance," the Doctor said, cutting Graham off and shaking Nyder's outstretch hand. "I must say, those don't seem like typical Hopies names."
"We changed them when we joined the party," said Nyder. "Aniton advised it for the first few members, and now its become somewhat of a tradition."
"Did he?" the Doctor said. "Why did he do that?"
"He said it helped differentiate us from the common rabble," said Falkus, a rather slimy individual who was more hair gel than man at this point. "It helps show our superiority, along with the, you know, obvious things."
"Obvious things?" Graham asked tensely.
"Well I think it's pretty clear that we're genetically superior to foreigners," said Parran, an astonishingly ugly man whose face was paler than his teeth.
"Oh really?" said Graham, the anger boiling up inside of him.
"Lets not go talk politics," the Doctor said, grabbing Graham's wrist under the table. "I mean we're here to learn, and isn't that's what really matters above all else?"
Graham glanced at the Doctor, before relaxed. The Doctor continued to smile, the same sort of forced joyfulness that customer service people throughout the universe wore on a daily basis.
"So when did the party gain so much power?" the Doctor asked sweetly, swallowing the bile in her throat.
"Surely you must know," said Tashek, a rather young, optimistic man who looked like a puppy constantly begging to be let in from the cold.
"Lets say I want to relieve the glory days," the Doctor said.
"Well if you insist," said Nyder. "I mean it was pretty fantastic, wasn't it? After the war Aniton quickly took charge, exposing the various levels of corruption and scandal found in all levels of government, while he himself remained a bastion of purity."
"Though some say that's because he deliberately blackmailed or smeared anyone who opposed him," said Tashek, before meekly piping down at the glares of his comrades.
"Fake news aside," sneered Nyder. "Once it became clear that Aniton was a man you could trust, slowly but surely we started winning a larger majority of the government. First it was thirty percent, then it was fifty, the election before last was seventy-eight. It was only a matter of time before we won every seat in the house."
"Some say that was due to voter suppression and manipulation though," said Tashek, before quickly falling silent again. The other three men looked at him in disgust, before Nyder finished his story.
"Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, we won every seat in the house, so now there's no one that can oppose us. Isn't that wonderful?"
"Oh it's great," said Graham. "I do hate it when other people have opinions on important matters."
"I knew there was something I liked about you," beamed Parran, slapping Graham uncomfortably on the back.
"It's really impressive that you won the election so thoroughly," said the Doctor. "Unbelievable, one would say."
"Helped that the other candidates had to drop out due to various scandals," said Falkus, letting out a laugh. "I mean the more cynical among us might say that the Neo-Kaleds deliberately screwed them over, but we all know that's not true, isn't it."
"Of course it isn't," said Tashek, sinking awkwardly in his seat.
"I say we raise our glass to the glorious leader Aniton," said Nyder. "And of course his successor, the man who led us into a glorious new age."
"Oh of course," said the Doctor. "All hail... No, Nyder, you do the honours, it's only right."
"But of course," said Nyder. "All hail Aniton! All hail the Neo-Kaleds! All hail Davros!"
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"So where do we start?" Ryan asked, as they walked down the street.
"I don't know," Yaz admitted. "I suppose we could just ask the man on the street what he thinks about the Neo-Kaleds."
"Neo-Kaleds!" screamed a young man next to them, causing both of them to jump. "Whoo, go Davros!"
"I take it you're a fan," said Ryan.
"Well duh," said the young man. "He's going to restore Hopies' glory back to the good old days."
"How's he gonna do that?" asked Yaz.
"He's gonna kick all the foreigners off the planet," said the young man. "All these aliens, coming in and taking our jobs."
Before the conversation could continue a scream was let out. Yaz and Ryan took off towards it, the young man following out of curiosity. The three of them turned a corner to see a young woman and an older man surrounded by a group of large, angry men, all holding a variety of improvised weapons.
"We don't want your lot here any more," said one of the men, brandishing the pipe he'd picked up on the ground.
"Please, I'm a citizen, just like you," said the woman. "My grandfather came to this planet legally. I was born here."
"A likely story," sneered another man, wooden debris in hand.
"What's going on here," said Yaz, calling upon her police training.
"Nothing the likes of you should worry about," said one of the men, ignoring her.
"You can't go round threatening people like this," said Ryan.
"They aren't people," said the young man who had followed them. "They're aliens. They don't count. Look how hideous they are."
"They look just like you," said Ryan in confusion.
"They look nothing like us," spat one of the men in disgust. Ryan glanced between the man and the younger woman, baffled.
"Wait... you think we're the same?" said the man, looking squarely at Ryan. "Where are you from, exactly."
"Oh, around," said Yaz quickly, trying to defuse the situation. Intimation wasn't going to work, so hopefully a peaceful solution could be reached.
"What city?" the man asked. Ryan and Yaz glanced at each other, unable to think of anything to say.
"You know what I think they are?" said the young man that had followed them. "I think they're another pair of dirty aliens."
Ryan and Yaz backed away slowly, hands up, but it was clear that the men had already made up their mind.
"How about we teach them a lesson," said one of the men. Without warning he raised his pipe and swung it right at Yaz's head!