Sitting in the captain's chair, watching the Doctor pilot the Tardis, I couldn't help but smile. He looked so happy running around the console, thoroughly excited. I had offered to help him pilot a the adventure prior but the man said he didn't need much help, not that I believed him. He was mad and the ride was insanely turbulent, like every other time but it was how he loved it and I was happy when he was. Landing, I was thrown out of my seat, Martha grasped the railing for dear life and the Doctor clung to the console. Getting up, I grumbled, hitting him on the arm before I strode out of the Tardis, leaving the two to follow me. I looked around, smiling as I saw the Statue of Liberty. I'd always wanted to visit New York, the real one, not the new, new one. My smile grew bigger when I realised that we were in the 1920s, late 20s specifically. I had a certain appreciation and respect for those who lived during the 1920s and 30s; the difficulties they'd faced with everything going on and still surviving. Martha and the Doctor soon stepped out of the Tardis, Martha in awe and the Doctor with a smile. "Where are we?"

"Ah, smell that Atlantic breeze!" He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my head. "Nice and cold, lovely. Martha, have you met my friend?" he asked, turning us around to face her as I rolled my eyes but smiled. His enthusiasm was contagious.

"Is that…? Oh, my God. That's the Statue of Liberty."

"Gateway to the New World. Give me your tired, your poor…"

"Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," I finished, receiving a kiss on the temple.

"That's so brilliant. I've always wanted to go to New York. I mean, the real New York, not the new new new new new new one."

I smiled at her as we began to walk towards the edge of the island. "Well, there's the genuine article. So good, they named it twice. Mind you, it was New Amsterdam, originally. Harder to say twice- no wonder it didn't catch on. New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam."

"Wonder what year it is, 'cause look-" she pointing into the distance, "the Empire State Building's not even finished yet."

"Work in progress. Still got a couple floors to go, and if I know my history, that makes the date somewhere around…"

"November first 1930," Martha said, a copy of the New York Record in her hand.

"You're getting good at this." I smiled and glanced over reading the headline. Gently taking it from her hands, I showed it to the Doctor who, in turn, took it from me.

"That's nearly eighty years ago. It's funny, 'cause you see all those old newsreels, all in black and white, like it's so far away. But here we are. It's real. It's now!" She laughed. "Come on, you. Where do you want to go first?"

"I think our detour just got longer," he said, motioning to the newspaper cover.

"'Hooverville Mystery Deepens.' What's Hooverville?"

After making our way over the river, we ended up in Central Park. As we walked through, I couldn't help but giggle like a young girl as I took in the beautiful surroundings. Excited, I took off ahead of the two, running around in pure elation. Behind me, I could hear the Doctor and Martha laughing at me. I turned and stuck my tongue out at them before running up to the Doctor and slapping his arm, winking as I ran away. Almost immediately, he took off after me.

As I ran through the trees, I saw Martha watching us, an amused expression on her face as she sat on a bench. Removing my gaze from her, I turned to see the Doctor quickly gaining on me. Letting out another giggle, I took off into a maze of trees, trying to evade him as stealthily as possible, which didn't happen. As I hid behind a tree, I didn't notice him sneaking up behind me until his arms were around me waist. "I win," he muttered, his breath tickling my ear. I turned and faced him, a sultry smile on my lips. Without saying a word, I grabbed the lapels of his coat and pulled him closer, his lips meeting mine without hesitation. After a great snog session, I pushed him away, giving him a quick peck as he pouted. Once we were straightened up, we made our way back to Martha.

Reaching her, she gave us a knowing smile, one that had me laughing and the Doctor stuttering for a bit. Grabbing his hand, I pulled him along the walkway, finally getting him to explain Hooverville to Martha. "Herbert Hoover, thirty first President of the USA, came to power a year ago. Up till then, New York was a boomtown. The Roaring Twenties. And then…"

"The Wall Street Crash, yeah, when was that, 1929?"

"Yep. The entire economy was wiped out overnight. Thousands were left without jobs and that led to homelessness. Most ended up in Central Park."

"What, they actually live in the park, in the middle of the city?"

"Pretty much. Where else would you go? Strength in numbers, no matter how loose those bonds are," I shrugged as we continued on.

As we strolled, we ended up surrounded by those who lived in the park. I couldn't help the pang of sorrow that ran through me. I felt so bad for the people and the fact that nobody cared enough to help them made it worse. It was one of the things I disliked about humans, their dog-eat-dog mentality. As if feeling my discomfort, the Doctor gave my hand a quick squeeze. "Ordinary people- lost their jobs, couldn't pay the rent, and they lost everything."

"There're places all over the country like this. What makes it worse is that they're receiving no help. No one cares about them."

"You only come to Hooverville when there's nowhere else to go." I nodded in agreement before turning to where I heard a bit of ruckus coming from the distance. Being the curious bugger that he was, the Doctor led us over there. "Come on." Reaching the crowd, we watched as two men walk away from a tall black man who radiated authority, and having just finish shaming them from the looks of it. As he walked away, we intercepted him. "I suppose that makes you the boss around here," the Doctor said as we reached him.

"And, uh, who might you be?"

"He's the Doctor. She's Rys. I'm Martha."

"A doctor? Huh. Well… we got stockbrokers, we've got a lawyer, but you're the first doctor. The neighbourhood gets classier by the day," the man said as he warmed his hands over a boiling pot.

"How many people live here?"

"At any one time, hundreds. No place else to go. But I will say this about Hooverville- we are a truly equal society. Black, white- all the same, all starving." He chuckled. "So you're welcome, the three of you. But tell me, Doctor- you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me. That there's going to be the tallest building in the world." The man pointed at the Empire State Building. "How come they can do that, when we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"

"Priorities aren't in the right place," I shrugged, answering his rhetorical question as we walked away. The man moved towards a fire and tossed what looked to be coffee into the flame. "But tell us, is it true that men are disappearing?"

"It's true, all right." He nodded, leading us to his tent. Instead of going in, we stood at the opening. We hadn't been invited and none of us wanted to be rude.

"But what does missing mean? I mean, people must come and go here all the time. It's not like anyone's keeping a register."

"Come on in," the man said, motioning us with the newspaper and removing his hat. Once inside, the Doctor sat by the man while Martha and I sat opposite to them. "This is different."

"In what way?" Martha asked.

"Someone takes them… at night. We hear something. Someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone, like they vanished into thin air."

"And you're sure someone's taking them?"

"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got- knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, a fire still burning."

"Have you been to the police?"

"What's the point of that, Martha?"

"She's right. We tried that. Another deadbeat goes missing, big deal."

"So the question is, who's taking them and what for?"

Before anyone could say something else, a Southern accent was heard. "Solomon!" A young man entered the tent. "Solomon, Mister Diagoras is here." We looked at each other before following Solomon out, standing behind him as we approached a man in a black coat, with two men flanking him.

"I need men, volunteers. I've got a little work for you, and you sure look like you can use the money."

"Yeah, what is the money?" the young man questioned.

"A dollar a day." As he said that, the crowd began to scoff.

Solomon stepped forward. "What's the work?"

"A little trip down the sewers." The men continued to groan, some even walking away. "Got a tunnel collapsed needs clearing and fixing. Any takers?"

"A dollar a day? That's slave wage." The surrounding men agreed with Solomon as I stared at the Diagoras bloke, something about him unsettling me. "And men don't always come back up, do they?"

"Accidents happen."

"What do you mean? What sort of 'accidents'?"

"You don't need the work, that's fine. Anybody else?" The Doctor raised his hand. "Enough with the questions."

"Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm volunteering. I'll go."

"Me as well. I go wherever this idiot does."

Martha then raised her hand. "I'll kill you for this." I chuckled, catching him smiling at her words, knowing she wouldn't.

"Anybody else?" Diagoras asked before the young man and Solomon raised their hands as well. When it was sorted, we followed Diagoras to the sewers, going down the manhole and looking up to him, well the others were, I stood against the wall listening and slightly put off at the scurrying and squeaking of rats. We each held a torch and the younger bloke, whose name we learned was Frank, had the rope. "Turn left. Go about a half a mile. Follow tunnel two seven three. Fall's right ahead of you, you can't miss it."

"And when do we get our dollar?"

"When you come back up."

"And if we don't come back up?"

"Then I got no one to pay."

"Don't worry. We'll be back," Solomon said confidently.

"Let's hope so." With that, Martha, Frank, and Solomon walked on. I walked forward, meeting Diagora's eyes for the first time. I grimaced, feeling this was going to end badly and he was one of the reasons. Sighing, I grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him towards the others.

"We just got to stick together. It's easy to get lost. It's like a huge rabbit warren. Could hide an army down here."

"So what about you, Frank? You're not from around these parts, are you?"

"Oh, you could talk. No, I'm from Tennessee born and bred." I smiled as I listened to them talk, my hand still in the Doctor's.

"So how come you're here?"

"Oh, my daddy died. Mama… couldn't afford to feed us all. So, I'm the oldest up to me to feed myself. So I put on my coat, hitched up here on the railroads. There's a whole lot of runaways in camp, younger than me, from all over- Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas. Solomon- he keeps a lookout for us. So, what about you? You're a long way from home."

"Yeah, I'm just a hitcher, too."

"You stick with me, you'll be all right."

"So this Diagoras bloke, who is he, then?"

"A couple of months ago, he was just another foreman. Now, seems like he's running most of Manhattan."

"How'd he manage that, then?"

"These are strange times. A man can go from being King of the Hill to the lowest of the low overnight. Guess for some folks, it works the other way around." I nodded before I stopped, seeing a luminous green blob on the ground. Our hands were still intertwined so he felt the jerk of my sudden stop. He looked at me for a moment before following my gaze.

"Whoa!"

"Is it radioactive or something? It's gone off, whatever it is," Martha gagged as we both walked to it, the Doctor placing down his torch and crouching, picking it up. "And you've got to pick it up." As he did, the light died. I grimaced as he brought it to his nose, smelling it.

"It's either that or tasting things that shouldn't be near his mouth."

"Shine your torch through it," he said, ignoring what I had said. Martha did as he asked. "Composite organic matter. Martha, medical opinion?"

"It's not human. I know that."

"No. It's not. And I'll tell you something else," he said, getting to his feet. "We must be at least a half mile in. I don't see any signs of a collapse. Do you Cerys?" I shook my head. "So why did Mister Diagoras send up down here?"

"Where are we now? What's up above us?"

"We're directly under Manhattan," I answered, sighing as we continued to walk on.

"We're way beyond half a mile. There's no collapse, nothing."

"That Diagoras bloke, was he lying?"

"Looks like it."

"So why'd he want people to come down here?"

"Solomon, I think it's time you took these two back. We'll be much quicker on our own." A squeal echoed through the tunnel. I jumped slightly, the noise catching me off guard as it was so unexpected.

"What the hell was that?"

"Hello!"

"Frank."

"Shh!"

"What if it's one of the folk gone missing? You'd be scared and half mad, down here on your own."

"Do you think they're still alive?"

"Heck, we- we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost."

There were more squeals. "I don't think they got lost, Frank."

"I ain't never heard nobody make a sound like that."

"Where's it coming from?" More squeals followed. "Sounds like there's more than one of them."

The Doctor and I had walked further into the tunnel, me holding his hand in a vice grip. "This way."

"No, that way," Solomon said as he pointed his torch in another direction.

"Doctor. Cerys." We walked back towards them, looking where Solomon's torch shone.

"Who are you?"

"Are you lost?" Frank asked, creeping towards the figure, earning a grunt from it. "Can you understand me? I've been thinkin' about folk lost down."

I grabbed the boy's arm. "Frank, stay back."

"Let us have a look." Smiling at the boy, I followed the Doctor as he inched closer to the person. "He's got a point, though, my mate Frank. I'd hate to be stuck down here all on my own. We know the way out." There was another squeal. "We know the way out. Daylight, if you come with us…" I stopped him when I saw that the figure had the head of a pig. "Oh, but what are you?"

"I think it's something like that time the Slitheen used a pig to cause panic."

"Is that, er… some kind of carnival mask?"

"No, it's real." He turned from Solomon to the creature. I crouched down next to the Doctor, feeling sorry for the person. Whoever or whatever had done that had to be other worldly, they had to possess something capable to changing a man into a pig. Seeing the sadness in the creature, I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping the contact would be of some comfort. "I'm sorry. But listen to me. I promise I can help." I removed my hand as I heard footsteps approaching us. "Who did this to you?"

"Doctor, Rys… I think you'd better get back here." I looked up, seeing that the footsteps belonged to more pigmen.

"Doctor!" We both stood and slowly backed away.

"Actually, good point."

"They're following you."

"Yeah, we noticed that. Thanks. Well then, Martha, Frank, Solomon."

"What?"

"I think, er, basically-"

"Run!" I yelled as he grabbed my hand and we took off behind the others. I turned to see they were following us.

"Where are we going?!"

"This way!" he yelled, leading us to a ladder that was further down the passage. "It's a ladder! Come on!" The Doctor climbed up, using the sonic to open the manhole cover. I climbed up after him, followed by Martha and Solomon.

"Where's Frank?" I asked, getting on my knees and reached down, grabbing his hand as he scrambled up the ladder. "Frank! Come on!" The Doctor grabbed my waist and tried to help me pull him up. We were overpowered and Frank was pulled down into the sewer by the pig men. "No! Not again!"

Solomon placed a hand on my shoulder, gently pushing me away from the hole, shutting the lid before any of the pig people could climb up "Don't touch her!" the Doctor growled at the man before he pulled me to him and further away from the hole. "Rys, we had to move. The longer we kept it open, the more of a chance those creatures getting up here."

"But Frank…"

"We can't go after him."

"We have to! We can't leave him."

"Rys, look at me." I brought my eyes to meet his. "We'll save him but I will NOT risk you when we don't even know we're dealing with. Alright?" I nodded, clutching his lapels as I tried to calm myself. When I had, he helped me to my feet, his arm firmly placed around my waist.

"Those creatures were from Hell, from Hell itself! If we go after him, they'll take us all. There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry." I nodded, understanding how he must have felt. Looking at a rack, I saw a blonde woman step out, a gun in her hand.

"All right, then. Put 'em up." She cocked her gun. "Hands in the air and no funny business." Martha, Solomon and the Doctor instantly put their hands up while I stared at her, smirking to myself as I looked at the gun. She motioned for me to put my hands up but I shook my head, letting her know I knew about her 'dangerous' weapon. "Now, tell me, you schmucks, what have you done with Laszlo?"

"Who's Laszlo?"

She glanced at Martha before sitting down, at the vanity. "Laszlo's my boyfriend. Or was my boyfriend until he disappeared, two weeks ago- no letter, no goodbye, no nothing." She waved the gun around before pointing it at her head. "And I'm not stupid. I know some guys are just pigs, but not my Laszlo." She aimed it back at us. "I mean, what kind of guy asks you to meet his mother before he vamooses?"

The Doctor pushed me behind him. "It might- might just help if you put that down."

"It's fake."

"Huh?" she asked confused, before glancing down at the gun in her hand. "Oh, sure." She tossed it onto a pile of clothes. As she did so, the others flinched, believing the gun would go off. "Oh, come on. It's not real. It's just a prop. It was either that or a spear."

"See?" I questioned with a smug grin on my face.

"What do you think happened to Lazlo?"

"I wish I knew. One minute, he's there, the next, zip- vanished."

"Listen, um… what's your name?"

"Tallulah."

"Tallulah."

"Three Ls and an 'H'."

"I like it." The woman smiled at me.

"Right. Um, we can try to find Laszlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night."

"And there are creatures… such creatures."

"What do you mean, creatures?"

"Look, listen, just trust me. Everyone is in danger." He reached into his pocket, rummaging through it a bit. "I need to find out exactly what this is…" He pulled the blob out, holding it for her to see. "Because then I'll know exactly what we're fighting."

"Yuck."

I sat on a prop box, watching as the Doctor ran around the room, looking for parts to build a scanner. "How about this? I found it backstage," Solomon said as he showed him a radio.

"Perfect. It's the capacitors I need. I'm just rigging up a crude little DNA scan for this beastie. If I can get a chromosomal reading, I can find out where it's from."

"How about you, Doctor? Where are you from? I've been all over. I never heard anybody talk like you. Just exactly who are you?" I stood, leaving them to find Tallulah and Martha. The two were in a different section of the dressing room, putting on makeup and fixing her hair; getting ready for her next show. As I walked in, the pair were already mid conversation.

"Hey, you're lucky, though. You got yourself a forward thinking guy with that hot potato in the sharp suit."

"Er, he's not- We're not… together."

"Oh, sure you are! I've seen the way you look at him. It's obvious."

"Not to him."

"Is it that other girl?"

"I don't know but I'm pretty certain it is. They've been travelling together for a while. I only just joined them."

"He was awfully chummy with her. Still, you got to live in hope. It's the only thing that's kept me going because, well, look. On my dressing table every day still." I turned away, returning to the Doctor. I didn't want to listen to their conversation, but hearing them talk about the Doctor, I couldn't help it. I knew Martha felt something for him, only an idiot wouldn't see that. But the Doctor was just that, an idiot, specifically my idiot. I sighed, finding the Doctor in the lighting gallery. He had assembled the scanner, which was being powered by the sonic screwdriver. I went and stood beside him, crouching down and rocking on the balls of my feet.

He went and turned on a large stage light, turning it so that it was directly on the blob. "That's it. Just need to heat you up." He sat down beside me, put on his glasses and began to examine the blob.

"It's artificial," I stated, not needing the scanner to tell me.

"You're right." He turned a nob and messed with the wires a bit. "Genetically engineered. Whoever this is- oh! You're clever." He pulled out a stethoscope and listened to it. "Fundamental DNA type four six seven dash nine eight nine. Nine eight nine," he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes as he tried to figure out where he recognised those numbers from. "Hold on, that means planet of origin…"

Skaro," I gasped. Jumping up, I ran from the gallery, rushing to where I hoped Martha was, watching the show from the wings of the stage. The Doctor, having the same idea, took off with me, only for us to find the gaggle of performers instead.

"Where is she? Where's Martha?"

"I don't know. She ran off the stage."

Hearing a scream, we ran back to the props room, where we heard it come from. I longed with every fibre of my body that we'd find her safe and unharmed. "Martha!" When we reached, the sewer entrance was askew. I let out a shaky breath, worried for the woman. Yes, we weren't close but she was the Doctor's companion, whether he knew it or not, and she was human. I picked up his coat, tossing it at him. Turning, I realised that Tallulah had followed us.

"Oh. Where are you going?"

"They've taken her."

"Who's taken her?" the Doctor pushed the manhole cover off. "What're you doin'?" I ignored the woman and began to head down the ladder, the Doctor soon following. "I said, what the hell are you doin'? Crazy guy, oy," she continued, climbing down in a dark brown coat.

"No, no, no, no, no way. You're not coming."

"Tell me what's going on."

"There's nothing you can do. Go back."

"Look," she said, climbing down the rest of the way, "whoever's taken Martha, they could've taken Laszlo, couldn't they?"

"Tallulah you're not safe down here."

"Then that's my problem. Come on. Which way?" she snapped, walking down one of the tunnels. I sighed, knowing if it were the Doctor, I would have done the same, no matter the danger. Glancing at him, I grabbed his hand, getting him to look at me. When our eyes met, I shrugged and began to lead him down a tunnel.

"This way," he sighed in defeat. Tallulah stalked back over and followed us down a different one.

"When you say, 'they've taken her', who's 'they' exactly? And who are you two anyway? I never asked."

"Quiet."

"Okay, okay."

"Shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush, shush." We watched as the shadow of an old enemy rolled ahead of us.

"I mean, you're handsome and all-" I threw my hand over her mouth, pulling her deeper into the alcove, with the Doctor covering us, until the Dalek was gone. I let her go, gasping for air at the close encounter.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," he said, leaving the nook. "They survive. They always survive, while I lose everything."

I moved to him, seeing his distress and clutching his face, forcing him to meet my eyes. "You didn't lose everything. I'm still here and we're still together. Okay?" He nodded, placing his hands over mine. I quickly stole a kiss and turned to Tallulah, keeping my hand in his.

"That metal thing? What was it?"

"It's a Dalek and that's just the armour. Inside is a living creature," I explained.

She began to laugh. "You're kiddin' me."

"Does it look like she's kidding?" he snapped. I took his face in my hands again calming him almost instantly. I understood his anger but it was no reason for him to get angry at Tallulah; it wasn't her fault she didn't know. When I was certain he hand his anger controlled, I released his face but kept my hand firmly in his. "Inside that shell, there's a creature born to hate, whose only thought is to destroy everything and everyone that isn't a Dalek, too. And it won't stop until it's killed every human being alive."

"But if that's not a human being, that kind of implies it's from outer space." We gave no reply, our faces aloof. "Yet again, that's a no with the kiddin'. Oy! Well, what's it doin' here, in New York?"

I glanced at Tallulah before making up my mind. Grabbing her hand, I began to lead her back towards the ladder. "I don't know but the longer you're down her, the more danger you're putting yourself in. Go back, Tallulah." I saw the shadow of a pig man come around the corner. Tallulah screamed, causing it to hide, or try to. Instantly I knew this one was different from the others.

"Where's Martha?" the Doctor questioned, running towards the pig man. I held onto Tallulah, keeping her from getting too close. "What have you done with her? What have you done with Martha?"

"I didn't take her."

"You remember your name?"

"Don't… look at me."

Tallulah and I walked towards the two. "Do you know where she is?"

"Stay back! Don't look at me."

"What happened to you?"

"They made me a monster."

"Who did?"

"The masters."

"But why would the Daleks do that?"

"They needed slaves. They needed slaves to steal more people, so they created us- part animal, part human. I escaped before they got my mind, but it was still too late."

"Do you know what happened to Martha?"

"They took her. It's my fault. She was following me."

"Were you in the theatre?"

"I never- yes."

"Why? Why were you there?"

"I never wanted you to see me like this."

"Why me? What I got to do with this? Were you following me? Is that why you were there?"

"Tallulah…" I whispered, realizing who we were speaking to. The person turned around so that she could see him.

"Yes."

"Who are you?"

"I was lonely."

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice breaking as she got closer to him.

"I needed to see you."

"Who are you?"

"I'm sorry." He turned to walk away but she reached out, grabbing onto his arm. As they spoke, I moved to the Doctor's side.

"No, wait. Let me look at you." She moved him into the light, examining him for a moment before realisation hit her. "Laszlo? My Laszlo? Oh, what have they done to you?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Laszlo, can you show us where they are?"

"But they'll kill you."

"If we don't stop them, they'll kill everyone."

"Then follow me."

Laszlo led us through the tunnels, quickly and soundlessly. When he stopped, we were behind a corner, able to hear the squeals of the pig slaves. I gave a small sigh of relief when I Martha and Frank alive, although Martha was clutching her wrist. We quickly took cover in an alcove when we saw and heard the Daleks approach the group.

"Silence. Silence."

"What the hell is that?" I heard Martha say.

"You will form a line. Move! Move!" the slaves began to push them against the wall.

"Just so what it says, everyone, okay? Just… obey."

"The female is wise. Obey!"

"Report."

"These are strong specimens. They will help the Dalek cause."

"Dalek?"

"What is the status of the Final Experiment?"

"The Dalekanium is in place. The energy conductor is now complete."

"Then I will extract prisoners for selection." We watched a fully converted pig slave drag one of the men forward. "Intelligence scan, initiate." It put its sucker to his face. "Reading brainwaves. Low intelligence."

"You calling me stupid?"

"Silence! This one will become a pig slave. Next!"

"No, let go of me. I'm not becoming one of them. No! No." The man was dragged away and the process started over with another person.

"They're divided into two groups- high intelligence and low intelligence. The low intelligence are taken to become pig slaves like me."

"Well, that's not fair."

"Shh, shh, shh!"

"You're the smartest guy I ever dated," she whispered to Laszlo.

I smiled. It was obvious she was in love with the man, and it killed me that what chance she had to be with him were practically ripped away. "What about the others?"

"They're taken to the laboratory."

"But why? What for?"

"I don't know. The masters only call it the Final… Experiment."

I turned from Laszlo back to the Daleks. They had gone to scan Frank. "Superior intelligence." It then moved to Martha. "Intelligence scan, initiate. Superior intelligence. This one will become part of the Final Experiment."

"You can't just experiment on people. It's insane! It's inhumane!"

"We are not human. Prisoners of high intelligence will be taken to the transgenic laboratory."

"Look out, they're moving!" Laszlo pulled Tallulah away but the Doctor and I remained where we were.

"Doctor, Rys, quickly!"

"We're not coming. I've got an idea. You go!"

"Laszlo, come on."

"Can you remember the way?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then go, please."

"But Laszlo, you got to come with me."

"Where would I go? Tallulah, I'm begging you. Save yourself. Just run. Just go. Go." Tallulah left and once the Daleks passed, the Doctor and I joined the line behind Martha.

"Just keep walking."

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you."

"Yeah, well, you can kiss me later. You too, Frank, if you want."

"Neither of you can kiss him," I scowled, my voice strained. He grabbed my hand, giving it a quick squeeze, trying to comfort me. The last time we'd dealt with Daleks, Rose ended up trapped in a parallel world and before that, the Doctor died. He was right, they always seemed to survive while WE lost everything we held dear. It wasn't fair. When we had met the Dalek in Van Statten's museum, I couldn't understand why the Doctor had such hatred for the aliens, but now, as a Time Lady, I knew and I wanted the same thing. They had taken just about everything from us.

We were led into a large room, with a black Dalek at the front, violently shaking and smoking. A Dalek rolled past us, joining the other three. "Report."

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution."

"Scan him. Prepare for birth."

"Evolution?" the Doctor asked. That was a new concept for the Daleks and I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious about what they were doing.

"What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?"

"Ask them."

"What, me? Don't be daft."

"We don't really want to get noticed, Martha. Please just ask."

She nodded and stepped out of the line, taking in a deep breath. "Daleks!" They turned to face her. "I demand to be told- what is the… Final Experiment? Report!"

"You will bear witness."

"To what?"

"The dawn of a new age."

"What does that mean?"

"We are the only four Daleks in existence, so the species must evolve a life outside the shell- the Children of Skaro must walk again." I cocked my head, surprised and confused. Daleks had always preferred life in its shell, it was their armour, how they'd managed to destroy so many planets. Still, I was extremely curious and through that curiosity, I watched as Dalek Sec's shell stopped smoking and the light in the eyestalk died. The casing opened and something struggled to get out. I held back a gasp, not wanting to alert them of our presence, but my grip on the Doctor's hand tightened considerably.

"What is it?"

Before us stood a one eyed creature with the head of a Dalek and the pin striped suit that belonged to Diagoras. It too in a breath, and the other three Daleks rolled away from it, Dalek Sec. After is intake of breath, it spoke. "I… am… a human Dalek. I… am your future." I tightened my grip on the Doctor's hand, my body shaking with rage and terror. This was new, something I never would have thought they'd consider but it was real. Daleks would never leave the confines of their armour… it wasn't Dalek… it was unnatural. If this was to be their future, I was content with wiping every last one of them from the face of the Earth.

10/10/2014

Hey all! So a week has passed since the last update and a lot has happened. I finally figured out the problem with posting a new story and in the upcoming weeks, I'll be posting the companion story to this one, as well as a short work titled Their Firsts, dealing with our current lovebirds up until the Time War, giving a bit of background on them. That should definitely be fun for you guys. I'll be posting it in the next ten minutes, actually.

Unlike the previous weeks, I won't be asking about this week's episode since I have yet to watch it. It was a friend's birthday and I ended up there. It was recorded though so I'll be watching it in the next few days so by the next update, hopefully before Saturday, I'll talk about it. Please no spoilers. :) Now, onto the reviews. Again, thanks for reading, following, and reviewing.

Squidtastik: That's exactly why I enjoyed the episode and felt the same way about humanity. It was one of those situations where they should have given it a chance to live. There was no way to tell it would attack or cause harm to the human tace.

NicoleR85: She definitely seems to be his conscious. But I will be writing her in Season 8. I already have so many ideas for them, and not all of them will be pretty. With his new Doctor, it'll definitely add a bit of a strain to their relationship, sadly... or maybe it won't. I'm not 100% sure yet.

I'm-a-Klaus-addict: Lolz. Yep, she definitely knows that Jack's the Face of Boe. I would consider him the last human since he wasn't turned into an alien persay but was made immortal in a way. But I'd definitely say human even if from the 51st Century but it does make one think. I just can't wait to post the future episodes though. I have a feeling you're going to enjoy them. Same about them shutting off the lights. Yes! I definitely got that reference and I definitely think that Courtney Woods is to be the president. Ahh, hope you didn't get caught and I'm right there with you on procrastination. I had a few papers due this past week that I didn't do until the morning of haha.

Takara Matsudaira: You should definitely start from Nine, if you don't mind me saying. It was RTD era and the story arcs and everything was just amazing. It leads up to what we now have with Twelve. But you basically have the overall gist of it. Clara is irrevocably his conscious and the overall voice of reason, although while he listens to her, it takes a while for him to do so. Psi was amazingly attractive. Honestly, so far, all the episodes have been great, in my opinion. By the argument, it seems as if her time with the Doctor is ultimately ending by the season's end. One thing that I absolutely adore in this season is the change between Clara and the Doctor. While before it was almost slightly romantic, it wasn't but they were best mates. In the new series, while they're best mates still, they have a lot of things to sort out and as we've all seen, she's the one who cares while he doesn't, so to speak. I think Courtney is a bit too young to travel with him at the moment. But thank you so much. I actually have no idea who Cerys Matthews is but after seeing your review, I looked her up. She's pretty cool but not where I got the name from. I think it was from an old telly show I used to watch and I played around with the spelling and ended up with Cerys.