30/01/2016
I awoke to someone to the feeling of someone carrying me. Cracking an eye open, I saw that it was the Doctor. I was still a bit upset with him but I didn't struggle against him, although I was quite curious as to why he was holding me. Seeming to sense I was awake, he looked down at me and gave me a small smile. I returned the gaze, my lips barely twitching as I remained silent. There was nothing I really wanted to say. His words still swirled through my mind and paired with the thoughts I already had, it made everything so much worse. "Can you walk?"
I stared at him for a moment before nodding. "I'm tired, not lame." It came out more snappish than I had intended and I could see that my tone had bothered him from the way his lips tightened into a thin line. I did feel kind of bad about it. He had saved us from those creatures, and he often did put himself in danger, but I was still peeved. While my anger towards him was somewhat justified, I couldn't help but feel as if there was something else bothering me, something I had yet to figure out.
"Glad to hear," he responded before not so gently placing me on the floor. I glared at him for a moment before I turned on my heels. I wanted to get as far away from him as possible before I said something terrible. I was already surprised he hadn't left me with Jackie considering how much we got into arguments and such. There was only so much we could argue about before he got tired of me. "Next time I'll leave you."
I whipped around. "I never asked you to move me, Doctor. You took that upon yourself. But please, leave me there next time. I was quite comfortable. Besides, who said anything about there being a next time?" I snapped before I turned around and stormed to my room. When I reached the door, I suddenly decided that I didn't want to be alone. Without bothering to knock, I let myself into Rose's room. I found my best friend asleep, softly snoring into her pillow with her blonde hair splayed all over the place. I smiled to myself before closing the door behind me and quietly inched onto the bed and situated myself under the covers. I silently hoped I would have a restless slumber but I knew it was rarely the case. Sighing, I relaxed and finally dozed off.
A hard thwack woke me and I immediately jumped up, looking around disoriented before my eyes landed on my smug best friend. I glared at her laughing figure for a while before speaking. "Thanks for the wake-up call." I wasn't really upset with her, just annoyed. Sleep was the one thing I tended to be deprived of and for her to wake me when I was peacefully sleeping bothered me.
Rose gave her trademark tongue in cheek smile before replying. "Anytime. What are you doing in here anyways?"
"Same as usual." I shrugged. There was no point in lying to her; Rose knew just about everything about me and after years of sharing a room, she was well aware of my sleeping habits.
"You can't let them keep you up at night."
I rolled my eyes at her. Of course it seemed like such an easy concept, but she wasn't seeing the things I was, feeling the utter anguish and despair the woman experienced. I couldn't get upset with her, no matter how stupid she sounded, Rose just didn't know. "Last I recalled, I was peacefully sleeping until you hit me."
"Yeah, well I'm not sorry." Rose looked at me, her nose pinched up as she took in my attire. So, maybe I hadn't changed out of my clothes from our previous trip. "You didn't sleep in your room, did you?"
"No. The library."
She raised an eyebrow. It wasn't the first time I found myself in the library, but I did tend to sleep a bit more when I did fall asleep there. In fact, I tended to sleep through the night so I could understand the question in her gaze. "So, how'd you get here?"
"The Doctor carried me out of there," I mumbled, averting my eyes from the blonde. She already had a few delusions pertaining to the alien and me and I was in no rush to add another.
"How nice."
"Yeah, until I woke up. We got into it again."
"Again? Really, you two argue like a married couple." Rose ran a hand through her hair, a thoughtful expression on her face. "You know Cerys, I think you two should have a sit down."
"What for?"
"To uncover the reason for the love/hate relationship you share."
"I don't need that and I don't hate him." I didn't. Whatever I felt for the alien was not hate, but it wasn't love either. There was something there... distant, but there and I didn't know how or why it was but that didn't change the fact that I had some feeling beside friendship towards him.
"Then what is it?" she inquired as she sat next to me, crossing her legs.
"I don't know. A few nights ago we were talking and we were fine but after that thing with the Slitheen, I don't know." In truth, his scathing words hurt. I already knew he didn't need me around, that I was a pity companion, but to hear it straight from his mouth, it was like a knife twisting in my already damaged heart.
"Do you want to be here?"
"Yes," I replied, not a breath after she'd finished her sentence. This was an amazing adventure and I wouldn't pass it up for anything. There was no way I wanted to return to London and continue on with my boring life, not after everything I'd seen and done with the Doctor.
"Do you trust him?"
I thought about it for a moment, going through all that we'd been through in the time Rose and I had known him. The Doctor wasn't exactly untrustworthy but he didn't tell us everything, a sentiment I didn't mind too much. But, there were times where it did bother me, where I wanted to know something and he'd dismiss it or evade the topic. Still, it didn't affect the fact that he had done so much for us in the short amount of time we'd known him. "After everything we've been through with him, I can't help but to. He's saved our lives so many times.
Rose nodded in agreement before "What did you talk about? When you were in the library?"
"He asked about the nightmares and why I had them."
"Did you tell him?"
"No. More like explode. I don't appreciate being questioned about things I don't want to talk about. Especially when I extend that courtesy to him. It's not right."
"We're travelling with him, though."
"Have you told him anything about yourself? Your deepest, darkest secrets that I only know?"
"No, but-"
"But nothing Rose. He doesn't need to know about that."
"What if one day he wants to know those things?"
"Rosie, I doubt I'll live that long."
She looked at me flabbergasted by my words. I couldn't blame her. She had been there in my darkest days and those words were forever etched in her mind. That one sentence could strike a fear in her that would never be quenched. "Cerys…"
I held up my hand and she immediately stopped speaking I knew my words worried her but I didn't want to lie to her. There was a very large possibility that I'd end things long before the Doctor got to know me better, where by my own hand or by that of some hostile alien. She was one person I wouldn't beat around the bush with, not after everything she'd done for me. I didn't want to do that to her. "Not the time, Rosie. I'm not saying now, or even a few days from now. All I'm saying is that there is going to be a time where it's going to come to that. I'm just scared of what I'm leaving behind."
"And what's that?" Her voice was no louder than a whisper.
"My sister and mum. Jackie would be devastated. Last time almost destroyed her."
"Of course it would destroy her! It would kill me. I never want to see something like that again. I was so scared and you didn't make it any better."
"I know and I've apologized for it more times than I could count."
"If you feel that way, you could always come to me. You don't have to deal with it alone."
"Thanks, Rosie. I'm really glad that I have you." While I said those words, I knew I could never really go to her with my dark thoughts and feelings. While Rose had been through some things, she was still naïve to that part of the world. She didn't know what it was like to be kicked down and made into a punching bag for no reason, what it was like to be an outcast. Even though people knew we were close, they still treated me like nothing, using subtleties when she was around. They got good at it as time passed, to the point she couldn't even tell they were insulting me. No, I couldn't go to her for any of my darker emotions. She wouldn't understand.
"I'm glad I have you too Cerys. Things wouldn't be the same without you." We grinned at each other for a moment before I stood. "Where are you going?"
"Back to my room. I want to shower and change."
"All right. Meet me in the console room."
"Rose…"
"I'm not planning anything. I'm just ready to see what the Doctor has in store for us this time."
"Fine. I'll meet you there in twenty."
"Fifteen." Rose and I haggled for a while longer before she finally rolled her eyes and gave in. With a victorious grin, I left her room and went to mine.
The moment I closed my room's door, I stripped down and almost ran to the bathroom. Once the water was running hot, I jumped in, relishing in the heat. After ten minutes, I hopped out and quickly dried off, letting my hair air dry. Within ten minutes, I had thrown on ripped jeans, a black tank top, a green and grey plaid shirt, combat boots, and my black beanie. When I was presentable, I left the room, making my way to the front.
When I got there, Rose and the Doctor were talking quietly to each other. Not paying much attention to them, I went and sat on the chair. When they finally stopped their conversation, I smiled at them, er, Rose. The Doctor barely spared me a glance and moved to the opposite side of the console. Rose quickly returned my smile although it had faltered for a split second when she saw the alien move away from us. As I was going to say something, a beeping sound filled the room. Rose looked to the Doctor who was already working his way around the console. With a less than shaky flight, we stopped. The Doctor was the first to leave the Tardis, followed quickly by a very curious and questioning Rose.
"Don't know. Some kind of signal drawing the Tardis off course." I watched as he did a quick look around. There was nothing really odd about the place, minus the amount of alien object locked inside glass cases. No, it was quite tame actually, something that made me a bit uneasy.
"Where are we?"
"Earth. Utah, North America. About half a mile underground."
"And when are we?"
"Two thousand and twelve," he replied before he went off to examine one of cases.
"God, that's so close. So we should be twenty six, Cerys." I nodded in agreement but ultimately remained silent. Instead, I watched as the Doctor moved around until he found a light switch, flooding the room in a bright white glow. The room was large, with cement walls and display cases scattered everywhere with bits and odds in them. "Blimey. It's a great big museum."
"An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby." The Doctor and Rose started walking down the aisle, observing the artefacts. Every once in a while the Doctor would comment on something in the cases, but I barely paid attention. It wasn't that I was uninterested in what he had to say, but I just wanted to look around and not know what I was seeing. It wasn't until I heard Rose did I start to pay attention again.
"That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen's arm. It's been stuffed."
"Oh, look at you." I watched as Rose puffed up in happy acknowledgement when she thought he was talking to her but deflate a bit when she realised his attention was on the head of some metal thing. A shudder danced down my spine, feeling as if I should know what it was. Choosing not to dwell, I pushed it down, not wanting to seem physically affected, not wanting to come off as weak.
"What is it?"
"An old friend of mine. Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old." I held back a snigger at his last comment. Yeah, at nine hundred he should most likely be in the ground by now, but I had a nagging feeling that he was still quite young in terms of his people, not something I voiced though.
"Is that where the signal's coming from?"
"No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help." Seemingly without thinking, he reached out and tapped the glass. The instant he did, an shrill alarm began to sound. Shocked, I jumped slightly, not expecting the sudden reaction. As I glanced around, I saw guards armed to the teeth surround us. I groaned and glared at the Doctor. I was irritated to say the least. He just had to touch something.
"Well, if someone's collecting aliens, that makes you exhibit A," Rose snorted before someone came forward. I wanted to slap her silly. We were standing in an alien exhibit, what she said was not something that the people should hear, and I was desperately hoping they hadn't. It would be a shame if they had and we'd lost our only means of getting home.
"You are trespassing on private property."
"Figured that bit," I responded, causing the guard who'd spoken to bring his attention, and gun to me. Deciding not to let my seemingly impending death bother me, I continued on. "So, who owns the place?"
The man's gaze lingering for a moment before he disregarded my question. "You are to come with us." Peeved with not getting the response I was hoping for, I crossed my arms and stared at him. With one last look at me, he turned and led us out of the room.
The Doctor walked ahead of Rose and me with his arms behind his back. As we made our way down corridors, I couldn't help but wonder who was behind this. Sure, the museum was great, but it seemed to be too much for 2012. Without much of a warning, the guard stopped in front of a door. Knocking, he opened it and led us inside. In the office were two men, the younger one was showing the other some sort of device while a red-headed woman stood nearby.
"What does it do?"
"Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel." I raised an eyebrow, trying to see the device that was being examined. It was small, no bigger than the palm of the man's hand, and it didn't really look like anything that would be used to channel fuel.
"I really wouldn't hold it like that," the Doctor quipped. I rolled my eyes at him. Leave it to Mr Know it All to have to say something in order to make others seem lesser than him. He just didn't know when to shut up, at least not in a situation in which we were being held as captives.
The woman glared at him for a moment before tersely commanding him to shut up, a command that I fully agreed with. There was no need for him to talk at the moment. He should just let them do whatever they were and leave it at that, especially since the man sitting was making me uncomfortable with his leering.
"Really, though, that's wrong."
An expression of fright appeared on the young man's face as he stared at the small object in his hands. It was obvious he was jumping to conclusions as to what the thing could do, something that I couldn't blame him for, especially when no on but the Doctor seemed to know what it was. "Is it dangerous?"
"No, it just looks silly." He reached for the device. As he did so, the guards aimed their guns at him. The older man motioned for them to lower their guns, which they did. He then stood and handed the item to the Doctor. Getting a glimpse, I saw that it was curved and grey, but not unappealing to the eyes. "You just need to be delicate." He began to stroke gently, making a soft sound leave it. He continued to do so until the older man stood, watching intently.
"It's a musical instrument."
"And it's a long way from home."
"Here, let me," he said as he snatched it. As he stroked it, a harsher sound reached our ears. I grimaced, knowing he was doing a horrible job. The Doctor wasted no time telling the man that he was wrong. At the Doctor's words, he adjusted his hold and stroke on the instrument. When he produced a sound close to what the Doctor had, he was gladly praised, although from the Doctor, it came out slightly condescending, especially when he was called an expert.
"As are you," the man replied before he very casually tossed aside. I glared at his mistreatment of the artefact but remained silent. There was no need for me to get involved anymore than I was. The man seemed bad enough, although anyone who had a private army seemed shady to me. What was so valuable about him anyways? "Who exactly are you?"
"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?"
"Like you don't know," he cockily replied. From the corner of my eye I saw the Doctor shrug his shoulders, but the man continued on. "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."
"Pretty much sums me up, yeah."
"The question is, how did you get in? Fifty three floors down, with your little cat burglar accomplices." He paused for a moment, his eyes flickering from Rose to me as he seemed to appraise us. "You're quite a collector yourself, they're rather pretty."
I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, unimpressed. There had been plenty of guys like that at home, and non of them were worth any of the game they talked, although this guy seemed to have the money, he seemed to be a major jerk. While I was unimpressed, Rose was incredibly annoyed at the fact that we were not only being ignored, but being referred to as collection pieces rather than people. "Oi, watch it, you."
"She's English too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend," he said to the boy, ignoring me, just as I wanted. There was no need to fuel the fire that was beginning.
The guy he called out to rolled his eyes before giving Rose a small smile. "This is Mister Henry Van Statten."
"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose scoffed. I couldn't help but smirk, if anyone could knock the man down a peg, it was her.
"Mister Van Statten owns the internet."
"Don't be stupid. No one owns the internet."
"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" I rolled my eyes. The man was ridiculously cocky. I couldn't help but realise that he could give the Doctor a run for his money if it ever became a competition. That was one pissing contest I would love a front seat to.
"So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up."
"And you claim greater knowledge?"
"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am."
"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?"
I rolled my eyes, seriously thinking they would get stuck at some point as I decided to finally say something. "You didn't exactly capture us. He just happened to alert your security of our presence. You probably wouldn't have known we were here if not for that."
The two men barely spared me a glance before continuing their conversation as if I hadn't said a thing. I huffed out a breath of air and tried to run my hand through my unruly curls.
"The cage contains my one living specimen."
"And what's that?"
"Like you don't know."
"Show me."
"You want to see it?"
"Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." I smirked at Rose's remark. She was right; the two were acting like overgrown children. Still, it was somewhat amusing to see, even if it was annoying as hell.
"Goodard," Van Statten called out to the strawberry blonde, "Inform the Cage we're heading down. You, English." The boy looked at him as he walked into the lift. "Look after the girls. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet."
Before the two me could leave the room though, Rose proposed that I go with the Doctor, something I really didn't want to do. The Doctor and I still weren't talking and I honestly didn't want to be around him much. Call me immature or whatever, but I was still hurt and upset with him. "Why should I?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. A part of me knew exactly what she was trying to do, but I really wanted her to come out and admit it.
"Keep him out of trouble. There's nothing worse than the Doctor in trouble. Besides, you're the only one who could get some sense into him." I sighed and nodded. She didn't full out say what I wanted her to, but I knew that she had a somewhat valid point. He did tend to at least listen to what I had to say, depending on the situation at hand. Still, although I had given in, I wasn't going to talk to the man unless I had too. With it sorted, and surprisingly no words of protest from either man, I left the room the Doctor and Van Statten.
We walked in silence until before we stopped outside of a room that I guessed was what Van Statten referred to as the cage. There was nothing special about it, just a metal door that seemed to be able to conceal and hold whatever poor creature the man had captured and most likely tortured. "We've tried everything. The creature has shielded itself but there's definite signs of life inside."
"Inside? Inside what?"
"Welcome back, sir. I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting."
"The Metaltron?" I questioned. It didn't sound like the name of a 'proper' alien.
The man gave me a smug grin. "Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much to prefer to find out it's real name."
"Seriously, there's an alien in there and that's the best you could come up with? Now I feel even worse for it." Van Statten glared at me as I finished up. I returned the glare, not backing down. He was obviously an idiot, whether or not he wanted to believe he wasn't. And it didn't help that I was now very aware that they had tortured it to get some form of answers.
The scientist looked at us and then tried to hand gloves to the Doctor. "Here, you'd better put these on. The last guy that touched it burst into flames." While I appreciated the gesture, there was no way in hell I was going to touch the creature, especially after him telling us what had happened to the other guy.
"Then we won't touch it then, will we Cerys?" I shook my head. The fact that he'd said anything to me was somewhat surprising, especially since we'd been ignoring each other since earlier.
"Go ahead, Doctor. Impress me." Van Statten smiled, obviously not expecting the Doctor to be able to do anything. Goddard glanced at me, tilting her head smugly but remaining silent. My glare intensified as I met the woman's eyes. She quickly glanced away, a look of fear momentarily crossing her features, confusing me to no end. Still, there was work to be done and an alien to be saved so I pushed the thought out of my mind.
Without exchanging another word, the Doctor latched onto my hand and pulled me through the door. It closed almost instantly, locking us in the dark room. We looked around, seeing a small table with drills and other torture devices. The Doctor spared me a quick glance but turned his attention to the control board when I didn't meet his gaze, at least he thought I hadn't. Then we saw a single blue light in the back of the room. "Look, I'm sorry about this. Mister Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. I'm the Doctor."
"Doc-Tor?"
"Impossible."
"THE Doctor?" His grip on my hand tightened as the light came on to show what was speaking to us. It looked like a salt and pepper shaker with an eyestalk, a plunger and whisk for arms. It was chained to the floor, unable to move, which made sense as to why the metal door hadn't been breached. When I tried to get closer, the Doctor pulled me back, shoving me behind him. "Exterminate! Exterminate!" Without warning, the Doctor pushed me back to the door and began to pound on it. Terror was written on his face, leaving me shocked and afraid. Whatever that alien was, it had invoked a fear in the Doctor I'd never seen.
"Let us out!"
"Exterminate! You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!" I watched as the whisk moved, fear of what might happened paralyzed me. When nothing did, I turned to the Doctor. Although the fear was there, I also realised that the beginnings of a migraine was approaching. There was something familiar about the creature, something that I should know but didn't. Then again, it could be the fact that the Doctor was pounding at the door and screaming for us to be let out. Either way, I was in pain.
"It's not working," the Doctor said, more so to himself, before he started to laugh almost maniaclly. "Fantastic! Oh, fantastic!" His expression changed from a slight hysteria to raging anger. "Powerless! Look at you. The great space dustbin. How does it feel?" He moved closer to it, pulling me with him. It was almost as if he forgot that he had latched onto my arm.
The creature backed away as far as it could. "Keep back!" By this time the Doctor was inches away. His body was still shielding me as he walked around the room, still dragging me along. I was honestly just waiting for the moment when he realised that his hand was latched around my wrist.
"What for? What're you going to do to me? If you can't kill, then what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? You're nothing." I glared at the back of his head. No matter what a Dalek was, or what it did, it didn't deserve to be told it was nothing. No one wanted to hear that, human or alien. "What the hell are you here for?"
"I am waiting for orders."
"What do you mean?" I hesitantly asked it, moving from behind the Doctor. While his grip was lax enough for me to slip out of, I didn't pull away, feeling he was mainly holding it for comfort, rather than to protect me. The eyestalk moved to me, as if whatever that was hidden in the shell wanted to look at me. The Doctor moved again, keeping me from its view. I huffed out a breath and moved to the side, making sure to keep behind the Time Lord. I was curious about the Dalek; I knew that whatever it was dangerous, but it was also trapped and kind of incapacitated at the moment, not to mention being threatened by the Doctor.
"I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders."
"Well you're never going to get any. Not ever."
"I demand orders!"
"They're never going to come! Your race is dead! You all burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second," the Doctor replied.
"You lie!"
"I watched it happen. I made it happen." I looked at him in disbelief. How could he have destroyed an entire race? I tugged my arm, trying to remove it from his. He held on with a steel grip. I continued until he turned and looked at me, pleading with his eyes. I sighed and stopped, realising that he wouldn't let go and for some reason he needed the contact. I was angry but Rose was right, I was the only one who could talk him down if I tried.
"You destroyed us?" The Doctor seemed to be affected by the question. His expression became blank but I could still see the anger in his eyes. It made me wonder what the man had been through, what the hell had happened during the Time War.
He turned from the Dalek, facing me. "I had no choice." It was as if he wanted me to understand, that he wanted some form of forgiveness even if I didn't understand why he was looking at me. He just needed someone.
"And what of the Time Lords?"
"Dead." His lips quivered just enough for me to see before he clenched his jaw. "They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost." As the Doctor said this, my headache grew worse. I tried my best to ignore it, but the harder I tried, the more intese the pain grew.
"And the coward survived."
He smiled, mocking it. "Oh, and I caught your little signal. Help me. Poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cause there's no one else left."
"I am alone in the universe."
"Yep."
"So are you. We are the same."
"We're not the same! I'm not-" he stopped, thinking. "No, wait. Maybe we are. You're right. Yeah, okay. You've got a point. 'Cause I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve. Exterminate." My eyes snapped to the Doctor as he released my hand and pulled down a lever on a nearby board, a sadistic grin plastered on his face. Suddenly the Dalek was being electrocuted. I stared at the Doctor in fear; it was a side of him I'd never seen and it scared me more than I was willing to admit. I shifted my gaze to the Dalek as my eyes clouded over in tears. No matter what it had done to the Doctor, this was unnecessary. He was purposefully torturing a creature and enjoying it. Seeing him in such a way was mind boggling, almost numbing.
"Have pity!" it screamed. It was in pain and the Doctor just continued, disregarding its cries. The tears I tried so hard to hold broke free and streamed unabashed down my cheeks.
"Doctor, stop. You're hurting it."
"It deserves it."
"No, it doesn't."
"Yes, it does. You weren't there, Cerys. It destroyed my people."
"And you did the same to its own. When is the bloodshed going to end?"
"When it's dead." I turned away from him and walked to the door, tears streaming down my face. This was the Doctor in all his anger and while I accepted that it was a part of him, I didn't like it. Doctors were supposed to help, not cause pain. He was turning into a monster and if that's what he hid underneath his usual demeanour, then I wanted nothing more than to go home. I wanted nothing to do with a man who could willingly torture another being while it begged for it's life, deserved or not.
"Have pity!" it screamed again. I covered my ears, unable to bear the sound of its screams. Another sob racked through my body as I heard it's cries. The screams weren't entirely muted and the effect it had on me was greater than most, even more than some of my nightmares.
I had moved my hands to readjust when I heard the Doctor's reply. "Why should I? You never did."
"Help me!" Not a minute later, the door slid open and I was pushed into the nearest corner as guards rushed the room and grabbed the Doctor as he attempted to mess with the controls at the panel. I could only assume that he was probably going to do something to cause the Dalek more pain.
Van Statten strolled in, going up to the Dalek. "I saved your life. Now talk to me. Goddamn it, talk to me!" The scientist went to where the Doctor once stood and pushed down a lever, cutting off the electricity the Doctor had been using against the creature.
"You've got to destroy it!" he yelled as he was dragged away. Guards came over to me but did not touch me. I wasn't a threat. I just stood there watching Van Statten.
"The last in the universe. And now I know your name. Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek. I am Henry van Statten, now recognize me!" The Dalek said nothing. "Make it talk again, Simmons. Whatever it takes." I glared at him as he brushed past me. When he said nothing to me, I sighed, wiped the stray tears, and followed him out of the room.
Van Statten, Goddard, the Doctor, security, and I had just entered the elevator when the Doctor finally spoke. "The metal's just battle armour. The real Dalek creature's inside." I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, intrigued, but not wanting to give on that I was.
"What does it look like?"
"A nightmare. It's a mutation. The Dalek race was genetically engineered. Every single emotion was removed except hate."
"Genetically engineered. By whom?"
"By a genius, Van Statten. By a man who was king of his own little world. You'd like him."
"It's been on Earth for over fifty years. Sold at a private auction, moving from one collection to another. Why would it be a threat now?" Goddard asked.
"Because I'm here. How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?"
"The records say it came from the sky like a meteorite. It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands. Burnt in its crater for three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must have gone insane."
"It must have fallen through time. The only survivor."
"You talked about a war?"
"The Time War. The final battle between my people and the Dalek race."
"But you survived too."
"Not by choice."
"This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth. Doctor, there's you. The only one of your kind in existence." My head turned to Van Statten as he greedily leered at the Doctor.
"He's a living person, not something for you to dissect," I barked. He glanced at me and then nodded to the officers in the elevator with us. At that, a guard grabbed my arms and attempted to put me in handcuffs. As he did so, I managed to hit his knee, knocking the man back and buying myself a bit of time. Moving away, I felt a hand grab my shoulder and slam me into the wall. I groaned I hit the wall. As the cuffs were placed on my wrists, I stomped on the person's foot. As one of the men spoke, I threw my head back, hitting him in the face. Turning around, I saw it was Van Statten. A small smile crossed my face as I saw him clutching his bleeding nose.
"Leave her alone." I paused in my struggling and tried to make eye contact with the Doctor to no avail. "I'll go with you." I blew out a puff of air in annoyance. He had to try and be a hero, although I was somewhat grateful; there was no way I could have taken all those guys. Still, it didn't stop one from hitting my in my abdomen. I groaned, wheezing a bit as I tried to get my breathing back on point. Beside me I could hear the Doctor struggling and yelling at the man, but there wasn't much he could do. When I lifted my head, I saw that the doors had opened and that I was being dragged down a stark white corridor. Upon entering one of the many rooms that littered the area, two guards held me behind a piece of machinery as the Doctor's jacket and shirt were removed. He was then strapped onto a table that after Van Statten pressed some buttons, moved to the upright position, leaving the table hanging in the air.
"Now, smile!" Van Statten mocked as a laser ran down the Doctor's body. I watched him writhe and grimace in pain, breathing heavily as the laser left him.
"Stop it!" I shrieked, not caring that my voice would probably be gone the next day. As angry as I was, I didn't want the Doctor to go through that. "You're hurting him." My cries met deaf ears.
"Two hearts! Binary vascular system. Oh, I am so going to patent this."
"So that's your secret. You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it."
"This technology has been falling to Earth for centuries. All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances I've made from alien junk. You have no idea, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater, and do you know what we found?" He walked towards the Doctor, stopping by his side. "The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course. No need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?"
"You're sick!"
"Do you know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you."
"In that case, I will be true to myself and continue."
"Listen to me!" The Doctor jerked forward, seemingly spent from the x-ray. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his breathing had grown more ragged. I was incredibly worried about him, especially considering it was the most hurt. Even angry I wouldn't wish this upon him. "That thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!"
"Nothing can escape the Cage," Van Staten replied as he hit the Doctor with the laser again. I moved to go to Van Statten but the two men holding me had an iron grip. I struggled as much as I could but they wouldn't let me go.
"But it's woken up. It knows I'm here. It's going to get out. Van Statten, I swear, no one on this base is safe. No one on this planet!" I watched as Van Statten grinned, running the laser again. He was now doing it on purpose, using it as a torture device. Anger rose in me as I realised that. I felt my cheeks flush as I heard the Doctor's groans of pain. I turned to my captors, stomping my foot on the man's right's foot. He yowled in pain and released me. I managed to rush forward by the other grabbed me, trying to stop my struggling. I turned to face him and seeing an opening, I kneed him in the groin. He collapsed, holding himself whimpers of pain emitting from the back of his throat. I rushed to Van Statten but more guards had come for me, blocking my path to the man. Just as I was going to attack one of the men, a loudspeaker came to life, causing us all to pause in what we were doing.
"I repeat, this is not a drill!"
"Release me if you want to live." Van Satten turned from me and looked at the Doctor and nodded to the guards who stood by him. They quickly undid his chains and handed him is clothes. "Her too." The two guards that I'd hit unlocked the handcuffs. Finally free, I walked up to Van Statten and punched him in the face. Content with the black and blue that was forming under his eye, I walked to over to the Doctor. "You didn't have to do that."
"Yes, I did," I replied before I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the elevator, leaving a very irate Goddard and pained Van Statten to follow.
The four of us piled into the elevator and after mere seconds, the doors opened and the Doctor pulled me out, running towards Van Statten's office. On the wall TV was a live feed of the Cage. Rose and the kid she'd gone with were in there, staring at the door.
"You've got to keep it in that cell."
"Doctor, it's all my fault." I shook my head, not understanding as to how it could have been her fault.
"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations."
"A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat."
We watched in silence as the Dalek opened the door and the guards began to shoot at it. "Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed." I rolled my eyes at Van Statten. After everything the Doctor said, he was trying to protect it.
I stared at the screen, my eyes locked on my best friend. "Rose," I said. She looked into the screen at me. "Get out of there. You have to get back to the office." She nodded and backed into another room, out of our view. We then watched as the Dalek went up to the wall monitor and smashed it, cutting off our only means of visual on it.
Goddard sat behind the desk, frantically typing away on the computer. "We're losing power. It's draining the base. Oh, my God. It's draining entire power supplies for the whole of Utah." My eyes widened at her words. How the hell could it do that? I quickly glanced at the Doctor but his attention was on Goddard.
"It's downloading."
"Downloading what?"
"Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down."
"It's not just energy. The Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything," the Doctor replied.
"The cameras in the vault have gone down."
"We've only got emergency power. It's eaten everything else. You've got to kill it now!"
"All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately," Goddard ordered.
Seeing as the cameras were down, we waited, me impatiently, for word on Rose... and the guy. Moments later, the sound of gun fire came through the speakers. "Tell them to stop shooting at it."
"But it's killing them!"
"They're dispensable. That Dalek is unique. I don't want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me? Do you hear me?"
I whipped my head to Van Statten, my anger at it's boiling point. "Are you mad?! There are people dying down there. Are you that obsessed with this that you'd lead people to their deaths? You disgust me. The only dispensable person is you. Those men and women are so brave, so very brave and you are nothing a coward playing king of the hill. If we make it out of here alive, I promise you, I will bring your end," I growled, causing the Doctor to shift his body to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder to calm me but I shrugged it off and moved to a corner where I could watch.
As we listened to the audio, the gunshots began to fade until there was no more. I grimaced but remained silent. What else was there I could do or say? Van Statten would do whatever he wanted with no consequence to the fact that the people he employed were being murdered. My piece had been said and in the end, it didn't matter. Instead, I just watched as Goddard pulled up the building's schematics. "That's us, right below the surface. That's the cage, and that's the Dalek."
"This museum of yours. Have you got any alien weapons?"
"Lots of them, but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them."
"We've got to keep that thing alive. We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there."
"Van Satten," I said. He barely turned to face me. "Shut up."
The Doctor gave me a small smile before he addressed the other man's comment. "That would leave everyone trapped with it. Rose is down there. I won't let this happen. Have you got that?" he said to Van Statten. Without waiting for an answer, he returned his attention to Goddard and the computer screen. "It's got to go through this area." He pointed to a small area that I could barely make out. "What's that?"
"Weapons testing."
"Give guns to the technicians, the lawyers, anyone. Everyone. Only then have you got a chance of killing it." Goddard stood and quickly left the room as the Doctor took her place at the computer.
We were all quiet for a while. I was glad that the idiot had listened to me but it soon disappeared. "I thought you were the great expert, Doctor. If you're so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs. Everything needs something." I shook my head at the man's lack of understanding. Even after everything there was an evil to the creature, although at this point in time, I couldn't blame it for attacking; it had been tortured after all.
"What's the nearest town?"
"Salt Lake City."
"Population?"
"One million."
"All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature. That's all it needs."
"But why would it do that?"
"Because it honestly believes they should die. Human beings are different, and anything different is wrong. It's the ultimate in racial cleansing and you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!" The Doctor got up and hovered over the microphone, talking to the guards. "The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home, but it's not indestructible." I glanced at the Doctor, curious as to what he was thinking. "If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weak spot."
As the Doctor finished, a voice came through. "Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one single tin robot. Positions!"
I shook my head at his ignorance before I walked over to the Doctor. "They're going to die, aren't they? They don't know what they're dealing with." He nodded, acknowledging my question and grabbing hold of my hand. As I went to say something else, Goddard returned.
"We've got vision."
"It wants us to see," the Doctor replied. We watched as the bullets fell around the Dalek, having no effect. It rose up, shooting the fire alarm and setting off he sprinklers, covering the floor with water. I squeezed the Doctor's hand as it shot onto the floor and electrocuted everyone on the ground. As much as I wanted to look away, I couldn't. I was stuck staring at the lifeless bodies of the men and women who had died for nothing.
"Fall back! Fall back!" the commander yelled before the Dalek shot the metal landing they stood on, electrocuting them as well. All that was left was silence.