[Hi! Here's a little once-off I've been wanting to write for a bit. The modern series has made a big deal about the Doctor's mythic status among the Daleks, so I decided to imagine how the Emperor might deal with this. The series continuity might be a little hazy in places, but then, Doctor Who has always had a pretty fuzzy continuity. Enjoy!
I don't own Doctor Who or the Daleks. No copyright infringement intended.]
The door whirred open and Dalek Operative 4329 entered the inquisition chamber. The room was bare and dark, lit only by three white-hot lights from the ceiling. Their glares came together to form a spotlight where the subjects were interrogated.
Op 4329 entered the light without hesitation. For a few seconds, the room was silent apart from the dull whine rising from the floor.
'Identify – yourself.'
The voice was low and the syllables rolled forth like rusted old machine parts. Regardless, the Dalek's eyestalk twitched upwards in recognition.
'Da-lek Oper-a-tive 4-3-2-9, Emperor. Son-tar Divi-sion.'
'Your atten-dance is noted as part of Pu-rifi-cation Scree-ning 231.'
The voice throbbed from speakers attached to the ceiling. For all the op knew, the Emperor could be millions of light years away. Its whereabouts were always kept secret in the interests of security.
The Daleks had gone through many social systems in the past. This Emperor was only the latest of many, though to speak this aloud would mean instant death.
For the past three months, the Emperor had been ruthlessly cleansing all ranks in preparation for the next phase of its strategy for conquest of the Andromeda Galaxy. Such procedures were a continuous facet of Dalek life; their aim was the continued perfection of the race.
Daleks were never told what each purification screening entailed. Those who failed were destroyed and those who passed were commanded on pain of death not to inform their comrades. This was for two reasons: it prevented operatives forming secret alliances which could threaten a coup against the Emperor; it also ensured their reactions to the process were pure and honest. Forewarning would enable them to mentally prepare for the screening, something the Emperor could not abide.
'Observe the projec-tion,' the Emperor's boomed.
A pinkish-white spot of light, about ten metres in diameter, flared into life on the far wall. For a few seconds it was blank, then a face appeared: a short humanoid figure in dark clothing, long white hair and leaning on a cane.
The image rested for a few seconds, then changed to another humanoid, this one with a dark dome-shaped hair and holding a small tube against his lips. After another few seconds, it changed to a tall humanoid in bright red clothing. The face glared down at the Dalek along a beaky nose; the Dalek observed in turn without reaction.
The parade of faces continued for some time. Eventually it looped back to the first face, then the second and so on and so forth.
Op 4329 didn't count the time; that was not its aim here. The Emperor could keep it here for hours and hours if It so wished. The op only observed the faces as it was ordered to.
Eventually, the projection ended and the Emperor's voice called: 'Iden-tify the faces on the screen!'
'It is the Doc-tor: rene-gade Time Lord from the pla-net Galli-frey.'
'List his ac-tivi-ties in rela-tion to the Daleks!'
Op 4329 began to list planets, dates, campaign titles, names, statistics. All Daleks were taught in the race's martial history: all were coerced into a detailed comprehension of the Daleks' multiple victories and defeats, the better to improve their expansion.
Various names recurred throughout Dalek history, as hundreds of individuals pledged to halt their conquest through battle or sabotage. The Doctor was only one of many.
After recalling the destruction of Skaro by the Hand of Omega, Op 4329 fell silent. It had regurgitated all knowledge of the Doctor's activities that had yet been collated in the Imperial Information Banks.
After another silence, filled only by the same dull whine, the Emperor spoke again: 'Do – you – fear – the Doctor?'
'Da-leks are above fear! All infe-rior races are unworthy of fear or respect!'
'Do – you – fear – the Doctor?'
'The Doc-tor is but a-noth-er para-site in the Universe. He will be ex-ter-mi-nated along with all non-Dalek life!'
The Emperor repeated the same question for another unaccounted stretch of time. Each time, Op 4329's answers became louder and more emphatic. By the end, the op was howling about the Doctor's impending doom, how he would scream and beg before the Daleks obliterated him from existence.
The Emperor gave no indication when Its questions were ended. Instead, another door whirred open at the far end of the room. It was the only acknowledgement the subjects ever received that the inquisition had ended.
Op 4329 glided from the room, now twitching from its frenzy. The first door opened again and Dalek Operative 4330 took its place.
'Identify – yourself.'
'Da-lek Oper-a-tive 4-3-3-0, Emperor. Son-tar Divi-sion.'
'Your atten-dance is noted as part of Pu-rifi-cation Scree-ning 231.'
Once again, the pinkish-white light appeared and ran through the same parade of faces. 4330 watched with the same lack of reaction. Another unobserved length of time passed and the projection ended.
'Iden-tify the faces on the screen!'
'The Doc-tor: a rene-gade of the Time Lords from the pla-net Galli-frey.'
'List his ac-tivi-ties in rela-tion to the Daleks!'
Op 4330 began the same spiel of Dalek history. It recounted the Doctor laying bombs for the Daleks, collaborating with their enemies, threatening Daleks, sabotaging their equipment.
When it had finished, 4330 waited for the Emperor to continue. There was another lengthy pause. It was unclear if the Emperor was analysing the op's response, conferring with other Daleks, or maybe just testing 4330's patience. Whatever the reason, to question would mean instant execution.
Finally, the Emperor spoke: 'Do – you – fear – the Doctor?'
'I – do not – fear – the Doctor. He is weak – and inferior.'
'Do – you – fear – the Doctor?'
'I do not. The Doctor is – a mere obstacle before the Daleks. He shall be swept aside.'
The question came again and again, thrumming from the speakers with pitiless repetion.
'Do – you – fear – the Doctor?' the Emperor asked yet again.
'I . . . I . . . '
'Do you fear him?'
'I – the Doctor – he is – everywhere!'
There was a terrible silence, then Op 4330 continued, knowing there was no point hiding any longer. 'The Doc-tor has destroyed us re-pea-tedly! He has de-stroyed the Da-leks' own home world! He nearly destroyed his own planet to kill us!'
This was one of the few vital pieces of information to survive the assault on Gallifrey. The Doctor had seized a terrifying weapon allegedly to wipe out the Time Lords and Daleks together. What had stopped him was as yet unknown.
'He is the Oncoming Storm!' Op 4330 wailed. 'The Bringer of Darkness. Ka Faraq Gatri!'
The ancient words of Skaro rang throughout the chamber, then faded into nothing. The monotonous whine continued for a time.
Op 4330 felt no fear now, only self-hatred. It had transgressed and would be punished. It no longer cared for its own survival: to abase itself so before the Emperor had left it a shell. It would welcome Its judgement.
'Oper-a-tive 4-3-3-0,' the Emperor droned, 'you have been found weak and un-fit as a Da-lek. You have expressed fear to-wards an infe-rior life-form and will hence-forth be ex-punged from the Dalek line.'
The op bowed its eyestalk before its beloved Emperor's judgement.
The whining sound slowly began to build. It rose to a continous throb. Electricity crackled in the atmosphere. Just before the sound became unbearable, Op 4330 let out a shriek. Smoke gushed from between its joints and then -
BOOOOM!
The casing collapsed in on itself. Pale goo sizzled on the plates and the floor, the only remains of the embryo within.
A hatch in the floor opened within the spotlight and the remnants of 4330 tipped down a vast chute. At the bottom, they plopped onto a mountain of junk; the discarded armour and life-fluids of others who had failed the Emperor's test.
Without a sound from the Emperor, the entrance to the chamber whirred open and the next operative entered.