Everything was a blur. The second Seg was converted, Rose broke down in a fit of screaming and cursing - especially when Seth showed up on their side of the window again. A couple of her coworkers looked at each other nervously, unsure what to make of the typically quiet scientist. She'd never raised her voice before. Ever. Regardless, they practically dragged her away from the window before the newly-converted Dalek could see where she went. They had their orders.
However, when the two other scientists managed to finally strap her to the 'conversion table,' as Seth called it, she stopped fighting, her breathing rough from screaming and fighting. The only acknowledgement she made to the other people were her flinches when they attached the wires to her, as per Seth's instruction.
"Not one for talking?" Seth asked, almost tauntingly.
"You destroyed my best friend."
He almost looked concerned. "And you need some serious help if your best friend is a space squid." And with that, one of the other scientists pushed the final button, sending her into blackness.
xXx
Seg was still locked up in the same hangar, snarling and pacing like a rabid dog. For the first time in what had been years, the hatred he had felt as a full fledged Dalek soldier had been unleashed. All he could do was think about how to kill Seth, and how to make it painful. Every second another option came to mind, making his twisted mind fill further with bloody images and death. The only thing keeping him from falling fully into the destruction from whence he came was the hope that perhaps Rose would return, unharmed, and get them out of the wretched place. How had it come to this? A creature trapped within a metal shell, forced to become a metal shell, tossed from war and blood into peace, then pulled back into hellfire? He couldn't quite understand it, but nor could he do anything about it.
The door opened, a forklift entering with a somewhat fearful expression on her face - of course they were watching all this unfold. There were cameras everywhere. "...please don't hurt me."
The plane bared his teeth, a dangerous growl emanating from his parted lips. "Who are you?"
She flinched back. "...Seg, it's me. Rose."
His eyes softened, but still his fangs showed. He wanted only to protect her, hide her away from everyone so they could no longer hurt her. What they had done to her… what they had done to him… was unforgivable. He snarled, "Why did they do this to you?"
"They're doing it to everyone… there's only a couple real humans left in this division. It's… it's really bad."
Something within Seg ached for his old self. For their old selves. There was nothing pleasant about being born a Dalek, but still he wished he could feel familiar within his own skin and shell. "Why waste time converting humans that are not sick… why waste time converting creatures that have no quarrel with them?"
"If they wait until people get it, it would be too late… the disease moves too fast. They don't know what its scope is or what species it's infecting… or anything." She sighed shakily, trying to change the subject. "They needed me to check something in your cockpit… are you gonna be okay with that?"
The plane bristled, but nodded, grimacing. "All this is foolish. All this could have been avoided."
Rose was quiet for a moment, fumbling with the tools she was carrying as she moved up the ramp to a catwalk Seg somehow hadn't totally destroyed. "...everyone knows that… but we can't really do anything about it. Come over here," she told him.
He did as he was told, moving over to the catwalk, though it was almost impossible for him to stay still. His anger was consuming him. He had to move. He had to put up a fight. It was almost impossible for him to stay in one spot. "I could have done something about it. I could have helped in finding a cure. I could have broken out earlier and got both of us off this planet. I should have. I should have done something."
"You're not thinking straight. Ugh, just sit still for a few seconds! All I have to do is get a reading!" Rose was getting more frustrated by the second, though the sadness in her eyes betrayed her. "...you need to stop talking like that. We can't change anything."
He tried to gather his thoughts, steady his mind, but he felt he had to keep moving… it was the only way to expend the pent up energy he had within him. However, he bit his tongue and tried to stop himself from fidgeting. "We can't change the past… but we can change the future," he said in a deadly voice. "What do they even expect of me?"
"To work for them," she stated somewhat bitterly. "And if you can't calm yourself something really bad is going to happen to you… worse than conversion." At least he was sitting still for the time being.
"Death?" he sneered, "Death would be a gift. That's what they'll have to do… they'll have to kill me. I won't work for them. I won't work for the people who needlessly destroyed my life as I know it."
"It's worse than that… they wouldn't kill you… you don't understand… they're trying to find a way to make people work for them."
Seg cackled psychotically, yet when he opened his mouth to speak he spoke in even, thoughtful tones. "I've escaped the whole of the Dalek Empire. Their method of mind control is far greater than anything this planet could accomplish. You weak, measly Humans know nothing of what it means to control others. You know nothing of power - only your illusion of it. Try as you might, but I cannot fall to your mind games."
"My mind games? I'm not Them! I'm trying to keep Them from trying to experiment on you more!"
The plane went quiet, "You might be the only redeeming individual your race has to offer… but it does not make you disconnected from them. Humans. A miserable race… proclaiming peace and humanity. Humanity! I've seen Daleks show more of your so-called 'humanity' then many of your species."
She managed to get her reading while he was talking, shutting his cockpit as gently as she could. The results were not good. "I wish you'd think differently…" she said sadly, getting down off the catwalk. "...every species has its own problems."
At this point he didn't care how insulting he sounded. He was fed up to the brim with Human idiocy. "I come from a group of murdering clowns willing to commit genocide of the entire universe even if it meant a single Dalek would reign supreme. You think I don't know that? But at least your race has a choice. What for us is forced upon us since the moment we're pulled out of whatever test tube we hail from we're forced to do as we do. I'm not excusing their - and my own - behavior, but it's a heck of alot better an excuse than you Humans have."
"Had a choice… I made mine when I tried to help you, but humans as a whole…" she stared at her own arms with a renewed sense of horror. "...they won. Majority rules."
"They won't win until you let them win," Seg growled softly.
"What else can I do?! They converted both of us and I can't do so much as hold a pencil anymore. They… they won't kill me... even if I go against them… they'll just make it worse."
"Don't let them break you. Don't let them get into your head, tell their lies, and twist your thinking. Do anything you can in small ways to stop them or slow them down. Anything. The most important thing is that you don't fall for their tricks."
"...I hope I can."
