Nancy: The Dalek way
Fascinated, Nancy watched the young Daleks emerge from the breeding plant on the conveyor belt, be picked by automated robotic arms and be plucked into brand new casings. The Dalek who'd trained in medical activities had volunteered to show her the reproduction factory and stood at her side.
She shook her head in amazement. "Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that. Growing embryos from single cells to full adults in minutes… We still have much to learn from your technology."
"OUR ALLIANCE INCLUDES PROVIDING YOU WITH SCIENTIFIC ASSISTANCE," he generously offered.
"I know, thank you. For the time being, I'd just like to study some intermediate states of their development."
"I WILL EXTRACT EMBRYOS AT KEY STAGES FOR YOU TO ANALYSE. ABRUPTLY INTERRUPTING THE GROWTH PROCESS WILL ALLOW YOU TO ACQUIRE REPRESENTATIVE DATA."
"No, wait! Don't kill them!" she exclaimed in alarm. "I didn't mean I wanted to dissect them! I just want to examine them, alive! Please, please, as a rule of thumb, always assume I mean to preserve or heal or save, unless I very explicitly state otherwise."
The Dalek stopped and stared at her in confusion. "YES. I ALREADY KNOW YOUR PURPOSE IS TO PROTECT HUMAN AND DALEK LIFE. I HAD NO INTENTION OF KILLING THEM. IT WOULD BE UNNECESSARY AND WASTEFUL, EVEN IF THEY HAVE NOT ACQUIRED INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE YET. INTERRUPTING THEIR GROWTH ONLY MEANS IT WILL RETURN TO A BIOLOGICALLY NATURAL SPEED, IMPERCEPTIBLE IN THE CONSIDERED TIME FRAME."
"Oh," was all Nancy was able to say, cheeks burning in shame.
