A/N: So…I've bawled at eight episodes of Series 3. Does this make me a soft touch?

Disclaimer: If I owned Dalek Sec, he would've lived a lot longer than he did. Sadly I don't since the BBC, Russell T. Davies and Terry Nation own Doctor Who and the Daleks. The Knights Tempus and my own character are mentioned in passing. Swipe them, and you suffer and die.

Warnings: Same as Part 1, but with some angsting from Sec about love and humanity. I love this guy, bless him.

NB: Sec's voice will still be in bold – he's enough of a Dalek for me.

Gambit: Part 2

A Human Dalek.

Not born of one world or the other. Instead, I am something fresh, something new.

Something…different.

I raise my hand and gesture towards the humans, standing in a frightened line before me.

'These humans will become like me. Prepare them for hybridisation.'

The Pig Slaves lurch out from behind the multitudes of monitors and equipment, gathering the humans into a tight group, their hands grabbing crudely at the various trembling limbs.

Jast, Thay and Caan turn to watch the process, all hesitantly moving their eyestalks away from me as I move forward, placing one foot shakily in front of the other.

I may not be Dalek in appearance, but I am still one of them in my mind. Whether or not they can adjust to this will be up to them. I know from experience that overriding their programming while still in their original forms will not be easy.

But they are strong. They will persevere.

A sudden burst of curiously melodic noise fills the laboratory, overpowering the sounds and screams of the human captives.

What…?

What is it?

I turn frantically, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. 'What is that sound?!'

Instinctively flinching, I move to stand with my brethren. They encircle me, ready to protect me from any enemy fire.

'Ah, well, now, that would be me.'

I turn and stare at the human emerging from behind one of the monitors.

…No.

Not human.

Never human.

This is not possible.

It cannot be…

'Hello. Surprise. Boo. Etcetera.'

I recoil in shock.

A tall, lean being with dark hair and dark eyes, a superior smirk on his face as he strides nonchalantly towards us.

'Doctor?!'

The Ka-Faraq Gatri.

The killer of his own men.

Caan studies the Time Lord with anger and recognition. 'The enemy of the Daleks!'

Jast is quick to make his intentions known. 'EX-TER-MI-NATE!!'

What?! No!!

I raise my hand to block Jast and Caan as they move forward.

'Wait!'

My brethren stare at me in shock. I have prevented them from killing the Doctor, the greatest enemy of the Daleks.

For now, at least.

But…how did he survive…?

A foolish question. He is like the Terran cockroach, the only creature which is capable of surviving a nuclear blast. And having dwelled in the sewers of New York for so long, I have become well acquainted with these insectoid pests.

The Doctor stands before me, his gaze cynical and dark.

He slowly walks forward, studying my face. 'Well then. A new form of Dalek. Fascinating.'

He glares at me now. 'And very clever.'

I return his glare with equal, if not greater force as my facial appendages quiver and twitch in anger.

'The Cult of Skaro escaped your slaughter!!'

He sneers. 'How did you end up in 1930?'

'Emergency temporal shift.'

I do not need to tell him that we did not escape here directly.

I am thankful, although I did not ever say it, to the other who aided us.

The one who found us floating injured in space on the dark side of the moon. Who interrogated us, and then repaired us, her own loneliness overcoming her ingrained hatred of my people.

With the repairs complete, she forcibly ejected us from her TARDIS, gifting Thay, Jast and Caan each with a vicious sneer as they departed. For me, she offered a brief, cynical smile, and a word of farewell.

Too much history exists between the Cult of Skaro and the Knights Tempus for any of us to ignore, and yet there is too much to remember without pain and sorrow.

And still she tended to us, treating us somewhat as equals.

If I ever encounter the Lady Kalitharian again, I will thank her for her actions.

Hopefully then, I will find out her motivations for aiding us.

But until then…

The Doctor guffaws loudly at my words and glances at my brothers.

'Ohooo! That must've roasted up your power cells, eh?'

He turns and walks slowly away from me, scratching at one of his ears.

'Time was, four Daleks could've conquered the world. But instead you're skulking away…'

He stares upwards at the power cables leading to the ceiling of the laboratory. Hopefully he cannot see the Shells, veiled safely within the shadows.

'…Hidden in the dark, experimenting…'

The disgust in his tone is obvious.

'…All of which results in you.'

I do not like the circumstances any more than you do, Doctor.

Do you think we enjoy this existence? Living in the catacombs of the sewers, hiding amidst the dark and the filth, scavenging what we can in order to survive? We lived like the humans for so long until we had managed to perfect the cloning technology, developing the Pig Slaves to hunt out our supplies while we began the work for the Final Experiment.

The four greatest minds in the Dalek Empire reduced to living in human excrement and squalor.

I was prepared, as were my brethren, to do everything possible to escape that horror, to restore the glory of the Daleks.

And now, the end is in sight.

For I will be greater than the Dalek and humans combined.

'I am Dalek in human form!'

He stares at me, tilting his head in a strange gesture.

'But what does it feel like?'

I can feel my expression crease into a frown of confusion as I process his words. The Doctor strides up to me, meeting my gaze.

'You can talk to me, Dalek Sec; it is Dalek Sec, isn't it? That's your name?'

I am somewhat honoured that he remembers me.

'You've got a name, and a mind of your own. Tell me what you're thinking, right now.'

I struggle to find the words. This body, these thoughts, these emotions…how do the humans cope with such influxes of information?

And the Time Lords…their body functions were not dissimilar to those of the humans. If anyone can understand, it will be the Doctor.

'…I…feel…'

I turn away, overcome by the surge of emotions. Fear, uncertainty, anxiety, stress…

'…Humanity.'

The Doctor's voice behind me is softer, compassionate, and curious. 'Good. That's good.'

I let my eye slide out of focus as I reflect a little more.

'I…feel…everything we wanted from mankind. Which is…'

I turn back to face him, meeting his gaze with mine.

'Ambition. Hatred. Aggression. And war.'

My hands clench involuntarily into fists. 'Such a genius for war!'

The Doctor shakes his head, his eyes now concerned.

'No. That's not what humanity means.'

'I think it does.'

I move closer to the Time Lord before me.

'At heart, this species is so very…Dalek.'

He spins away in angry disgust before meeting the gazes of Thay, Jast and Caan.

'Alright, so what have you achieved then, with this 'Final Experiment', eh? Nothing! 'Cos I can show you what you're missing, with this thing.'

He points at each of us in turn, and then pats a small brown device sitting next to one of the monitors.

'A simple little radio.'

A radio. I have heard mention of this technology. A crude one-way communications device, capable of transmitting information in the form of sound waves. The humans have a great liking for it as a means of entertainment, and the technology behind the construction is crude, but cheap and relatively simple to manufacture.

Caan stares at the radio, and then at the Doctor, his scientific curiosity piqued. 'What is the purpose of that device?'

The Doctor sneers, his tone filled with spite.

'Well exactly. It plays music. What's the point of that?'

His expression changes as he stares at Caan.

'Oh, with music, you can dance to it…'

He meets Jast's gaze.

'Sing with it…'

He turns to study Thay.

'…Fall in love to it.'

Only I notice as Thay's optic lens widens.

'Unless you're a Dalek of course. Then it's all just…'

He dips a hand into his jacket and pulls out the device I recognise as a sonic screwdriver. Before any of us has the chance to react, he levels the device at the radio and activates it.

'…Noise!!'

A wave of shrill sound I somehow identify as feedback echoes harshly through the laboratory, entering my ears so loudly that I clamp my eye shut and screech in pain.

Thay, Jast and Caan all howl as the noise enters their audio receivers, with no means of deactivating their processors.

'Protect the hybrid!!'

Through the pain, I can just make out the sounds of the Doctor ordering the humans to flee, and my brethren surrounding me on Caan's orders.

'Protect!! Protect!!'

After what seems to me to be an eternity, the device falls to the floor. I glance up and see Caan's weapon-stalk smoking slightly.

Well done, my old friend.

I straighten up, embarrassed that I cowered like a new-spawned hatchling simply because of a noise.

But such a noise…

Caan turns to focus on me as I stand.

'Report status.'

I do not turn to meet his gaze. Not because of my embarrassment, but because of the sensations the noise produced. It was…astounding.

'…Pain…Pain of the flesh…like no Dalek has felt for thousands of years.'

Caan does not seem interested in my current emotional state.

'The Doctor has escaped!'

I turn and study my brethren, all of them eager for orders.

'Then find him!! Find him!!'

I turn away, panting slightly as the last of the pain leaves my body, listening as Caan moves to locate the Pig Slaves.

'Find the Doctor! The prisoners must be recaptured!'

He and Jast both depart with a squad of Slaves while Thay moves to his workstation, leaving me to study the battle computer and gain some control over my emotions.

I stretch my right hand out and study it, satisfied that the fine trembling that initially plagued my movements has vanished.

So frail, these beings.

So vulnerable.

I slowly bend my fingers, marvelling at the fluidity of the movement. Curling and uncurling, much like my original limbs, but strengthened with bone and a nervous system so responsive that it overwhelms me.

I cautiously stroke a fingertip across the back of my left hand, amazed at the sheer novelty of touch.

I blink, feeling my eyelid close and covering my eyeball with optical fluid.

I remember studying this form and mentally ridiculing the act of nature which could create such a powerful optical system out of water and jelly.

Building an eye.

The humans can do this without even knowing it occurs. The eye develops while the human is in utero, woven into the body with all of the other organs, tissue, and cells necessary for survival. At the smallest level, the cells are created for a specific purpose. They are not intelligent in themselves, but they fulfil their functions and aid in building a new human, a new life.

How could we have underestimated the power of natural evolution?

I turn and cast a speculative glance over the laboratory. Thay is busy, and I will not willingly disturb him while he carries out my orders.

Wait…

What is that…?

I bend down and pick up the damaged casing of the radio unit from where it lies on the floors, its innards charred, spilling over the concrete.

Such a strange device.

The substance is cool and smooth under my fingers. Plastic. A revolutionary new substance at this point in Terran history.

The radio serves no useful purpose, and yet I am intrigued.

It plays music.

The Doctor told us that music holds emotional power. A noise that can aid in the creation of the emotional and mental state known to the humans as love.

I am aware that within that emotion, there are different facets of love. The love between friends, the love between family, the love between a parent and child, the love for another being, and even more beyond that.

No Dalek has ever felt love.

But now…

I turn the casing over in my hands, tracing the edging and dials with my fingers.

Love, so much like music, serves no purpose for a Dalek. It has no function except as a form of emotional enjoyment.

But I am a Human Dalek. Would this radio now serve a purpose for me?

Therefore, would I be able to feel love?

To feel specific emotions for specific beings? For Thay, Jast and Caan?

I stare at the doorway, frowning slightly.

They must find the Doctor.

If there would be any way that I could understand and accept these emotions, the Doctor would know. He has lived for centuries.

He understands the strength of love.

My frown deepens at a sudden thought.

I saw no sign of Rose Tyler in that line. She was not unintelligent; she would have found a way to stand with the Doctor.

Provided that she had survived the Battle of Canary Wharf.

But if she did not…

My heart begins to beat faster as I reflect upon this thought.

She must have been lost in the battle. The same battle in which I lost the rest of my people. The same battle in which I nearly lost Thay, Jast and Caan.

I remember the panic and grief I had felt when I had first believed my brethren to be dead.
The feelings of loneliness and emptiness when I could no longer hear their thoughts.
The sense of being ready to beg for death, if only so that I would be alone no longer.
And then the surge of elation when I sensed them once again, my limbs shaking in relief.

The Doctor did not get the chance to experience that same feeling of relief.

And for that, I do hold profound sympathy for him.

Even sorrow that he should experience it.

For as long as I have the Cult, I will never be alone.

The transmitter beeps.

Caan, Jast and the Pig Slaves have located the prisoners, and I hope, the Doctor along with them.

I stand quietly behind Thay. 'Establish visual contact.'

The monitor flickers as it forms into the standard Dalek viewscreen. I turn, Thay beside me, and watch as Caan hovers above a bedraggled group of humans.

The Hooverville in Central Park, as I understand it. The location where the Pig Slaves have been recruiting new slaves and subjects for the Final Experiment.

'Commence the attack.'

Caan is quick to lead. He fires upon one of the numerous ramshackle dwellings, sending it heavenward into a ball of flames. Jast follows in his wake, taking aim at the humans below.

I follow Caan's transmission as he swoops over the Hooverville, explosions littering his path. Occasionally Jast will soar past in a flash of burnished bronze metal, his aim as true as ever.

Caan finally hovers above the group and stares down at them.

'The humans will surrender!'

One figure stands before the group.

'Leave them alone, they've done nothing to you!!'

Caan's visual link flickers, and zooms in on the Doctor's face.

Thay sounds almost gleeful as he watches the screen. 'We have located the Doctor!'

I cannot help but feel relieved. He lives on. He can still be of help to us…

But what is this…?

Another human, dark-skinned and armed with a primitive hunting rifle, moves to stand apart from the group, his features and movements cautious. The Doctor notices and is quick to intercept him.

He grabs the human and attempts to wrest the gun away from him. 'No!! Solomon, stay back!!'

The human, Solomon, stands firm and shrugs the Doctor off his back.

He stares at Caan, seemingly undaunted. Impressive.

'I'm told…I'm addressing the Daleks, is that right?'

Few humans have ever displayed this kind of bravery in battle.

I tilt my head towards Thay, who now watches the screen with confusion.

'Observe humanity. For all their faults, they have…such courage.'

Solomon continues to speak.

'From what I hear, you're outcasts too.'

The Doctor looks concerned, and angry. 'Solomon, don't!'

The human barely acknowledges the Time Lord's presence. 'Doctor, this is my township, you will respect my authority. Just let me try.'

I move closer to the screen. It is rather strange to admit it, but I am curious as to what the human has to say.

He stands tall, proud, and unflinching as he spreads his hands in a gesture of peace.

'Daleks…ain't we the same? Underneath…ain't we all kin?'

He holds a hand out in front of him, the palm facing towards Caan. Do not attack him, my brother, he means no harm.

The rifle falls to rest in the mud as he sets it down beside him.

'See, I just discovered this past day that God's universe is a thousand times the size I thought it was. And that scares me. Oh yeah. Terrifies me. Right down to the bone.'

The Doctor's gaze flickers back and forth between Solomon and Caan.

'But surely it's got to give me hope. Hope that, maybe together, we can make a better tomorrow. So I beg you now…if you have any compassion in your hearts, then you'll meet with us and stop this fight!!'

Caan makes no movement.

Solomon drops his hands slightly, and gazes up with hope in his eyes.

'Well? Whaddya say?'

I can hear the derision in Caan's voice as he speaks.

'EX-TER-MI-NATE!!'

The blast bathes Solomon's body in a horrific green glow, his skeleton a darker green shadow as his organs are forcibly rearranged within his body.

I see him scream in agony as the life leaves his eyes.

And I gasp in horror.

No…no!! It was not bloodshed I wanted!!

Thay turns to look at me. He heard my gasp.

How can I explain?

This form; it has changed my perception on warfare. Now, to see a living being die so painfully, so needlessly…I feel suddenly nauseous.

He wished for peace, not suffering. I would have granted it willingly.

Another movement brings my attention back to the scene before me.

The Doctor now stands in Solomon's place, his eyes bright with anger and helpless grief. He flings his arms out, hands clenched tightly into fists.

'Alright, so it's my turn!! Then kill me!! Kill me if it'll stop you attacking these people!!'

Caan speaks with delight in his voice. 'I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy!!'

The Doctor does not back down.

'Then do it!! Do it!! Just do it!! DO IT!!'

I can hear Caan's weapon-stalk powering up for another deadly blast.

'EX-TER-MI-NA--!!'

'Stop!! I command you, stop!!'

I raise my hand above my head as I speak. Caan will listen to me. He will listen!

Thay stares at me again. I can feel his confusion building.

…Brother?...

Caan is equally as confused.

'I do not understand. It is the Doctor.'

I know, Caan. That will not change my mind.

'But I want him alive.'

Caan's eyestalk begins to quiver as he speaks.

'The urge to kill is too strong!'

There is a human word, used to describe a vocal tone which many young humans will use in arguments with their elders when the discussion is not proceeding in their favour.

Whining.

I have more sense than to accuse Caan of whining, however.

'I have decided. The Doctor must live, and you will obey me!'

I am still the leader of the Cult. Caan will not disobey a direct order. It is not the Dalek way.

Caan powers down his weapon and glares at the Doctor. 'I…obey.'

He sounds most displeased. But I have no time for defiance from my second-in-command.

The Doctor looks angry and confused. 'What's going on?'

I stare at the screen.

'Bring him to me.'

Caan relays my orders.

'You will follow.'

'No!!'

A small human female, dark-skinned…the same female who questioned Jast in the laboratory, runs to stand behind the Doctor.

'You can't go!'

I take a moment to study her. Her style of clothing alone marks her as a non-native. The type of clothing…she is not a resident of this time period.

It makes sense now.

She is the latest companion of the Doctor. Rose Tyler's replacement.

She speaks quietly to the Doctor, gesturing towards the group of cold, frightened humans behind them with tears in her eyes.

The Doctor stares at the group for a moment, and then turns back to Caan with deepest distrust in his eyes.

'One condition!! If I come with you, you spare the lives of everyone here!! D'you hear me?!'

I nod my agreement. 'Obey the Doctor.'

Caan now sounds as if he is on the verge of a systems error.

'Humans will be spared. Doctor…follow.'

The Doctor exchanges a few more words with the human female, shakes her hand briefly, and then moves to follow Jast and Caan.

Caan turns away from the Time Lord in utter disgust and confusion. Jast watches in silence, no doubt just as perplexed as Caan.

Thay turns from staring at the viewscreen and stares at me, curious and frightened.

I do not like it when Thay is frightened. It causes me great distress.

'You saved the Doctor. Why?'

He does not question the rhetoric of the Daleks in order to preserve his life, but Thay will question me if he is uncertain of something. As his commanding officer and elder sibling, I have the responsibility to look after him and answer his queries.

I hold back a small smile as I let this thought pass through my mind. I do admit that sometimes I see my brother as an innocent, inquisitive little hatchling. This is one of those times.

I turn and meet his bright blue gaze with my own.

'…He's a genius, and we can use him. The future of the Daleks might well depend upon the Doctor.'

Strange. Before the evolution, I would never have considered asking a Time Lord for assistance.

But now…

Circumstances are very different. I am more accepting of new ideas, new ways of thinking.

Convincing Thay, Jast and Caan however, may take some more time.

'Those people were defenceless!!'

Ah. The Doctor has arrived.

I turn towards the door as he strides across the laboratory floor, his eyes blazing with righteous anger.

'You only wanted me, but no, that wasn't enough for you, you had to start killing, 'cos that's the only thing a Dalek's good for!!'

I move forward, my eye half-closed in regret, my mouth set in a grim line.

'The deaths…were wrong.'

I stare at his face.

Incredulity, shock and confusion. All warring for space.

'…I'm sorry?'

I move forward again.

'That man...their leader, Solomon…he showed courage.'

The Doctor's eyes widen almost comically.

'And that's good?'

I hold his gaze with my own.

'That's excellent.'

He smirks in disbelief. 'Is it me, or are you becoming just a little bit more…human?'

I would think the answer to that question would be obvious, Doctor.

'You are the last of your kind, and now I am the first of mine.'

He frowns. 'What do you want me for?'

I hold back a sigh as I move past him towards a lab table, drawn to the colours of the chemicals inside the test-tubes and pipettes.

'…We tried everything to survive. When we found ourselves stranded in this ignorant age, first we tried growing new Dalek embryos, but their flesh was too weak.'

I recall watching in silence as the tiny hatchlings perished before me, one by one, Jast frantically trying to stabilise their lifesigns, Caan preparing a batch of steroids in a vain attempt to bolster their systems, and Thay beside me, observing both the embryos and myself in confusion.

I saw in that moment, a scene from so many centuries past, of Thay howling in pain as the necrosis steadily ate away at his body, Jast and Caan removing the rear of my own unit, preparing to take flesh grafts in order to save my brother's life.

Like the grafts that saved Thay, the basic chromosomal structure for the embryos had been taken from my genetic material in the hope that it would be the strongest, the most likely to survive the process.

I am not sure whether those embryos would have been my brothers or my offspring.

If they had survived…

Either option is now too painful to contemplate.

The Doctor does not see my distress. He folds his arms across his thin chest and glares at me.

'Yeah, I found one of your experiments, just left to die out there in the dark.'

I blink, clearing the extra optical fluid and peculiar burning sensation from my eye, and stare at the table before me.

'It forced us to conclude; what is the greatest resource of this planet? Its people.'

The control panel is hidden against the side of a pillar. The switch for the generator pulls up easily, and lights flicker on above our heads.

The Doctor looks up with scientific curiosity, and then glances back at me. I pull at another switch, and watch as one pallet descends from the ceiling, tubing and IV lines threaded under the plain white sheets.

'We stole them. We stole human beings for our purpose.'

His gaze is almost painful to see. I turn my gaze to the being within the sheets.

'Look inside.' I gesture with a hand.

The Doctor glances down, back to me for a second, and then he turns his full attention to the sheets.

An adult human male lies in peaceful repose beneath the sheets, his features serene, and his skin as pale as marble.

But what is inside his brain…

'This is the true extent of the Final Experiment.'

The Doctor looks up at me, his expression unreadable. 'Is he dead?'

'Near death. With his mind wiped…'

I gently place a hand against the human's skull, tracing the shape of his head.

'…Ready to be filled with new ideas.'

Another inscrutable look. 'Dalek ideas.'

I look at him, my eye wide. 'The Human Dalek Race.'

He stares up at the ceiling, his eyes flickering over the expanse, taking stock of the Shells.

'All of these people…how many?'

'We have caverns beyond this, storing more than a thousand.'

His gaze becomes unnerved. 'Is there any way to restore them, to make them human again?'

'Everything that they were has been lost.'

Regrettable, but necessary.

He begins to understand. 'So they're like shells. You've got empty human beings ready to be converted. That's gonna take a hell of a lot of power. This planet hasn't even split the atom yet; how are you gonna do it?'

I gesture to Caan and Jast, watching over us like squat bronze sentinels, their gazes unreadable.

'Open the conductor plan.'

The viewscreen flickers on at the opposite end of the room, the illustration of the Empire State Building slowly revolving from the base upwards.

The Doctor assumes a contemptuous expression as he studies the diagram.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Empire State Building, we're right underneath that. I already worked that out, thanks. But what, you've hijacked the whole building?'

I gesture towards the screen. 'We needed an energy conductor.'

'What for?'

I turn and stare at the youthful Time Lord beside me. 'I am the genetic template. My altered DNA was to be administered to each human body.'

Two strands of DNA appear on the screen; one rounded and curved in the elegant double helix outline, the other sharp and jagged, molecules looking like so much razor wire.

Human and Dalek DNA.

I continue as the strands are bombarded with yellow tinted waves of radiation. 'A strong enough blast of gamma radiation can splice the Dalek and Human genetic codes and waken each body from its sleep.'

He looks perplexed. 'Gamma radiation? But that's…'

The illustration pulls out to a schematic of the Earth and Sol, the Empire State building like a beacon atop the blue-green planet.

'Oh, the sun. You're using the sun.'

I nod. 'Soon, the greatest solar flare for a thousand years will hit the Earth. Gamma radiation will be drawn to the energy conductor…'

As I speak, the diagram shifts to follow my description.

'And when it strikes…'

'The army wakes.'

The Time Lord turns back to me as the screen shimmers and disappears. 'I still don't know what you need me for.'

'Your genius.'

He looks both suitably mollified and curious.

'Consider a pure Dalek. Intelligent but emotionless.'

He looks thoughtful. 'Removing the emotions makes you stronger. That's what your creator thought all those years ago.'

And he would know.

For he was there, at the end of the Kaled-Thal wars. At the genesis of the Daleks. (1)

Imprisoned by the Kaled Elite, tortured and interrogated by Davros himself…I can only speculate as to what his thoughts are regarding that incident, but they would not be pleasant.

Did he know then? Was he aware that the Time Lords had made what was later to be known as the first strike of the Last Great Time War?

And was the Emperor Davros aware then, of what would happen? That he would be overthrown and imprisoned by his creations, and would finally perish at the hands of the Doctor, as Skaro was destroyed by the Hand of Omega?

We may never know, but what I do know, is this…

'He was wrong.'

The Doctor's eyes open wide in shock. 'He was what?!'

He knows that I speak sacrilege, but I continue regardless as I hold his gaze with my own.

'It makes us lesser than our enemies. We must return to the flesh, and also the heart.'

I clench my fist above my own heart, and feel it beating steady and strong.

'You wouldn't be the supreme beings anymore.'

I smile slightly. 'And that is good.'

'That is incorrect!'

Ah. Apparently Caan feels it is time to add his opinion to the discussion.

Jast is quick to follow his lead. 'Daleks are supreme!'

I turn and stare at them. 'No! Not any more!'

Caan's distress is palpable. 'But that is our purpose!'

'Then our purpose is wrong!'

They fall silent in astonishment. I press my advantage.

'Where has our quest for supremacy led us? To this. Hiding in the sewers on a primitive world.'

I cast my gaze over the Cult. 'Just four of us left. If we do not change now, then we deserve extinction.'

The Doctor is concerned now. I can see by the look in his eyes, he believes me to be insane.

'So you want to change everything that makes a Dalek a Dalek?'

'If you can help me.'

Please, Doctor.

I cannot do this by myself.

Please help me.

Help us.

We walk quietly back down the laboratory towards the Shell, resting safely within its sheets and tubing.

'Your knowledge of genetic engineering is even greater than ours. The new race must be ready by the time the solar flare erupts.'

The Doctor looks sceptical.

'But you're the template. I thought they were getting a dose of you.'

'I want to change the gene sequence.'

'To make them even more human.'

I look down at the Shell.

'Humans are the great survivors. We need that ability.'

He looks up at me with an expression of disbelief and shakes his head.

'Hold on a minute though, there's no way this lot--' He jerks his thumb at Thay, Jast and Caan, all milling behind him, offering surly looks. '--are gonna let you do it.'

I return their gaze in kind. Do not cross me, my brothers, for I am still the Supreme Dalek Commander Sec. I will not tolerate insubordination, not even from you.

'I am their leader.'

The Time Lord turns and stares at them. 'Oh, and that's enough for you, is it?'

Thay is the first to reply. 'Daleks must follow orders.'

Jast follows in kind. 'Dalek Sec commands. We obey.'

I notice Caan remains silent. I will have words with him later, but at this moment…

I lower my voice, pleading with the Doctor now.

'If you don't help me, nothing will change.'

He looks so tempted, so desperate…and yet I see his eyes clouded with doubt.

'There's no room on Earth for another race of people.'

If my knowledge of Terran history is accurate, within a few years, a dictator will come to power within Europe, claiming that there is no room within his country or indeed on Earth for a clan of humans known as the Jews, solely and illogically because of their choice of religion.

Once, I would have applauded the ideals of Adolf Hitler. But now…I agree with the Doctor.

I walk to stand in front of my brothers, my arms stretching out as if to encompass them all in this last terrifying gesture.

'You have your TARDIS; take us across the stars. Find us a new home and allow the new Daleks to start again.'

A new planet, a new home. One with challenges and promise, one with peace.

A planet where the Dalek race will have the chance to rectify their mistakes with the new generation.

A planet where we might form once more into clans, families, and know the strength gained from the love of a clan. Rectify the androgynous nature of our people, and regain our gender as I have done.

A place where our people will not be grown in laboratories as troops for eternal conquest, but conceived and born naturally from the union of a male and a female.

I have a chance…we all have a chance; the Shells, my brothers and I, if the Doctor will only help us, even though we have done nothing to deserve his aid.

Please, Doctor.

Behind me, Thay, Jast and Caan watch in confusion, studying myself and the Doctor as we regard each other.

The youthful Time Lord eventually speaks.

'When's that solar flare?'

I feel a burst of elation in my chest. Does he mean…?

'Eleven minutes.'

'…Right then! Better get to work!'

He grins suddenly, joyfully, as he darts behind me towards the chemical vats. A small burst of irritation sweeps through my thoughts as I stumble like a child behind him, my limbs still unused to brisk movements, but it is quickly smothered by growing jubilation.

He will help us.

He will help us!!

TBC

(1) I love this serial, and since so much of the new series has its origins in Genesis…well. I couldn't resist a blatant reference.