"I didn't see anything about Cybermen on the monitors, did you?" Taylor asks Paul as they left the bar, having promised Malcom to find him again when they search for a Cyberman to kidnap, to force it into telling them what they needed to know about the Grissom Academy.
Shaking his head, his shoulder-high chestnut hair moving in the breeze as it passed them while they walked along the sidewalks of the slummy part of town, Paul replied that he didn't either, but considering their penchant in upgrading away perceived flaws, well, wouldn't surprise him much if they managed to mask their signatures from the TARDIS.
Cat and mouse, the TARDIS worked incomprehensible hours trying to get around their upgrades, and every time it did, the Cybermen upgraded them away once they noticed a flaw had been found.
Perfection being their ultimate goal, Cybermen are attentive knowing when a flaw is discovered, they'll even destroy their own to stomp them out, even if it's detrimental.
Though they're not known for destroying a school and not taking anyone for their cabals, this is a new one for Paul.
Especially with the information that the box has been in the school's possession for a number of years, long after the previous Doctor attempted to understand it, it's peculiar that the Cybermen decided to come around when they did.
Even they're the most prompt of the aliens, believe it or not!
With knowledge of the graphite box and the apparition of a man seen around the school shortly before the attack, gave Paul something to look over, as he made his way back to the TARDIS with Taylor close behind him.
Cybermen weren't known attacking without reason, whatever reason they had attacking the school and ensuring its destruction, had something to do with either the graphite box or the apparition of a man, both perhaps.
Only way to be sure was going to the TARDIS for insight and to see if they can't pinpoint where the Cybermen went after the school, it'll be difficult, but every time the Cybermen upgrades, there's still something left behind Paul can use to get a triangulation on their whereabouts.
Upon returning to the TARDIS, Paul immediately went to the console, beginning to type out everything he learnt from Malcom, while Taylor went and made them tea.
The monitors above the console came alive with texts as the TARDIS processed what Paul typed and it showed an image of the Aerographene Cube in the green hue of the monitors.
Staring at it, Paul continued typing, and the texts appeared, showing how the school obtained it, it was donated to them, an anonymous donor.
Nothing pointing to the identity of the donor, not even their signature, but the school graciously accepted the item, though it would seem there's some discrepancies.
Obviously, Malcom referring it to as graphite, but given the stress he felt, it was understandable some details gotten lost in the anguish he experienced.
When the school first obtained the Aerographene Cube, it was horrendously heavy, to the point they needed special equipment to move it.
Then, when his predecessor came, something happened, and miraculously, the Aerographene Cube became lighter, but no one was able to know for sure what caused the sudden change, as nothing was caught on the cameras.
There, Paul sees the reports that Malcom and Lydia swore that there was someone they mistook for the Doctor, as they hadn't met Paul's predecessor, yet.
One of the more artistic inclined students drew a sketch of the man from the two's description.
Never saw him before, but even in pencil, Paul saw something in those dark eyes, somewhat of a familiar contempt.
Curious, Paul tried using the accurate picture to gauge what the TARDIS could find, but it didn't find anyone fitting the spitting image, and it made Paul even more curious.
"Here you go…" he heard Taylor coming back from the kitchen hold the tray of tea and biscuits for them.
She asked how he was doing in his search and Paul frowns as he tells her that it wasn't going according to plan, before taking a biscuit off the tray, and a kiss from Taylor.
Looking up at the monitors, Taylor's emerald eyes sees the sketch of the man that Malcom and Lydia witnessed and what the students of Grissom Academy swore seeing around their school shortly before the Cybermen attacked.
Something about that sketch…
Those eyes... they're sketched... but... something about them...
It's...
Why…?
"Grace…" she heard her first name as she broke eye contact from those sketched dark eyes that seemingly drew her in, when she turned her attention to Paul, she noticed blood oozing from her nose, dribbling down to her chin and neck.
Quickly, Paul took the tray of tea and biscuits from her, sitting it on the top of the steps leading down to the console, as he went and helped her clean her face.
Shocked, Taylor swears that she didn't notice it before, as she felt the warmth from the soapy water as Paul helped clean the blood from under her nose.
Cooing at her, Paul comforted her as she's distressed about the sight of the blood, as he replaced the used wet rag with a dry one, drying her face, before replacing that with tissues, helping Taylor roll them up as she stuck them up her nose, she could feel the blood soaking through them.
Feeling her forehead, his large hands gently touching the sides of her neck, before touching her wrists, Paul frowns as he says, "It's probably the planet, awfully dry this time of year."
After they finished cleaning, the pair returned to the task in hand, but upon returning to the monitors, Paul sees the sketch of the man who the students swore seeing around the school's gone.
Even after trying multiple times, Paul couldn't get the TARDIS to raise the sketch, again.
Gone.
Strange, bizarre, impossible, Paul couldn't understand why the image disappeared, and why he couldn't get it back.
Shaking his head, Paul asserted that the Cybermen can tell them what they needed to know, though that'll be a taxing attempt.
Hours passed within the TARDIS, but there was a breakthrough in the quest for the Cybermen, two faint signatures somewhere on the planet, and the TARDIS locked onto them with ease.
It's peculiar considering how the Cybermen are, but it's their only hope.
His Sonic Screwdriver calibrated to pick up on the signatures, Paul readied with Taylor to search for Malcom once again, this time to track down the Cybermen.
Taylor showed concerns that the TARDIS only found two faint signatures coming from them, that they would've been logically destroyed to ensure the TARDIS couldn't find them on its scanner.
"I agree, this isn't ordinary," Paul nods as he didn't like it either, causing Taylor to wonder if it's because they anticipated that he'd arrive.
Not the first time Cybermen tried trapping him and his predecessors, but even Cybermen knew better to bait him with these signatures.
Daleks have a tendency to scour their radars for even so much as a trace of Cybermen, an old war between the two, an unending cesspool of death and destruction, countless people killed in the crosshairs would take any opportunity finding Cybermen to come from the skies and exterminate their mortal enemies.
Upgrading wasn't just getting ahead of Paul and the Doctors before him, but also the Daleks, always anticipating when they'd rear their mechanical heads.
These concerns gave rise to the belief that they ought to find the Cybermen and ensure they stop broadcasting their signatures, else it risks the ire of the Daleks, and the other Cybermen's return to the planet ensuring they're destroyed properly.
Before they left the safety of the TARDIS, Paul took the time asking Taylor if she's all right, the nosebleed subsiding, and her face meticulously cleaned of her blood.
Affirming that she's fine, Taylor follows Paul out of the TARDIS back into the streets.
Soon as they stepped through the threshold, they're surprised by the appearance of Malcom, having tracked them down with a handheld tracker.
Seeing the determination in his blue eyes, Paul inquired how he found the TARDIS, and Malcom explained that after the attack, he worked on his device to allow him to track all and any unusual energy spikes.
The spikes caused by the TARDIS helped find them with little trouble.
"Very intuitive, Mr. Malcom," Paul's impressed that Malcom went far into his episode trying to come up with a way of tracking anything bearing semblance to the Cybermen's ships.
"I assume you saw them?" Malcom wasted no time, asking Paul if he saw the signatures coming from two Cybermen, and he nodded, affirming that he did just as that.
Gesturing, Malcom insisted Paul help him avenge his school and Lydia's death, but Paul cautioned him.
While it may look relatively easy for him and his predecessors dealing with Cybermen, it's not easy as it looked, a lot went into him dealing with the Cybermen.
Though they're slow walking, they're just as dangerous, and with their penchant at kidnapping and forcibly upgrading anyone they find, they will do anything to ensure their numbers grow.
"I have nothing left, Doctor," Malcom tells him.
Pointing at him, Paul stated, "You have memories of Lydia, Mr. Malcom. It'd be a waste if they went with you."
Bluntly, Paul pointed out that while Malcom might've been true in his declaration, he still had the memories of his time with Lydia.
Should anything happen to him, even God willing, he gets turned into another Cyberman, those memories will be lost, and it would be as though she died, again.
Becoming a Cyberman's as much as dying as dying goes, everything that made Malcom who he is gone, replaced with a meticulous predetermined preset, and those memories lost to the currents of data as the Cyberman brain takes over, turning him into another faceless soldier in a constant war.
To either be upgraded or to be destroyed by a Dalek, or even by Paul himself.
"She deserves justice, Doctor!" Malcom argued.
Nodding, Paul agreed that everyone the Cybermen killed deserves their justice, but Malcom couldn't simply gung-ho and track down the Cybermen.
They are not to be taken lightly, even the Daleks.
There's a reason they remained prominent as long as they've been, from the first set of iterations where gold dust killed them, to now, where even military graded guns couldn't make dents in their metal chassis.
Calming down, finally, Malcom cleared his throat as he then asked, "What do we do?"
