Lulu guided Paul through the outpost, during this he saw more Daleks, quietly carrying orders without a thought behind their eye stocks, disturbingly they were pleasant when they encountered him.
Years since he took up the mantle, the Daleks became the enemies that he vowed to destroy at any given point, but here they were, hardly registering him.
The casualness in Lulu's voice proved that this went on for a while and already Paul questioned Cassius's motive for doing this, if he truly knew how dangerous these metal fiends can be when roused.
How he did this, at all, most of all, considering that Daleks would have destroyed everything in their wake.
Using his cover, Paul talked about the Daleks, of course Lulu couldn't tell him anything outside the few things, as the rest were trade secrets held closely to Cassius.
So, the Daleks didn't arrive here, they were brought, long after whatever Cassius did to them, and while Paul's curious how the man did it, he questioned the purpose behind it.
"Watch the gap," Lulu warns Paul as he stepped through the lift as Lulu stood near the lever.
Once he was safely inside, she pulled on the lever, and the lift descended to the lower part of the outpost.
"Oh, uh, you might have to turn in your messenger bag and your coat at the counter, Cassius doesn't like loose garments or bags of any kind, they tend to break things," Lulu remembered as she informed Paul that when they reached the bottom, he'll have to turn over his loose possessions to the counter.
There seemed to be a reason for that rule and Lulu affirmed that they had an issue with an assistant's handbag getting caught on a glass vial and pulling it to the ground.
"It ate through the floor, oh Cassius nearly rocketed to the moon!" Lulu recalled the incident.
The assistant was a recent hire who at first started the job seriously, but during her stint, became complacent.
At the time, Cassius didn't implement any rules regarding bags, so she didn't have anything preventing her from doing so, and well, Paul knew the rest.
It really drove home to how unwritten rules worked.
"Oh, he was so mad, last I heard, she was working with Venus flytraps!" Lulu described the assistant's fate after that incident.
Not the kind one could get from the gardening section of their stores or a nursery.
Venus flytraps.
Pearlescent pink with a slight perfume scent to them, during their flowering stages they had giant bulbs of pinkish-white flowers with three tightly packed petals, and a bit of an appetite, hence the perfume scent and the flowers.
There's typically three "heads" on each Venus flytrap and they're adorned with similar patterns as the flowers, the trick was that as hornets (massive ones at that!) collect the nectar produced by the flowers, they'd accidentally bump into one of the heads, immediately chomped, and it takes approximately eighteen weeks before the hornet is dissolved due to its thick exoskeleton.
The reason this was all brought up, the assistant very nearly got eaten by the Venus flytraps she oversaw handling, because she liked the way the flowers smelled.
And tried harvesting them so she'd have something for her desk.
Which also triggered another mechanic in the Venus flytraps.
Their spiny vines they use to defend themselves against transgressors.
"Oh, it was a whole thing!" Lulu exhaled as she explained this to Paul.
Smiling, Paul assures her that he wouldn't make the same mistakes, which Lulu thanked him, as she stated that if any more happened, Cassius would be on blood pressure medicine by the end of the day.
With a light thud, the lift came to the bottom and the doors sliding opening, Lulu stepping out first as she led Paul towards the counter where a clerk sat, looking bored as he had a hand under his chin, flipping through a magazine.
Lulu called out to him, annoyed that he wasn't paying attention, "Paz!"
Quickly, he glances up at Lulu and Paul, Paul saw the bright cyan mustache that covered the top of the man's lip, a darker cyan combover on top, and round frosted glasses.
"Sorry, Lu, nobody comes down here except you!" Paz points out that nobody really came to the outpost, that he didn't need to focus so much on his job, since hardly anyone came to their outpost.
He could count with one hand how often that happens!
"Well, today's the day!" Lulu pointed at Paul, causing a stir in Paz as he mentioned that Cassius didn't mention anyone coming.
Well, he doesn't mention much of anything outside of the occasional incidents.
Lowering his hand, Paz spun in his chair towards the back where he grabbed a form, spinning around once again to hand it to Paul with a pen for him to sign.
With the form on the counter, Paul looked it over, it sounded no different than any standard form he and Taylor were presented with during the course of their adventures, and he signed the marked spots.
Since he couldn't simply write out 'the Doctor' he had to make do with a shared identity.
John Smith.
Easy.
Effective.
Everyone knows it.
Even under duress Paul could muster it if needed.
"Okay, you know the drill," Paz shows Paul the container for his forest green coat and his leather messenger bag.
Complying with the instructions, Paul surrendered his belongings to the container as Paz marks it with Paul's "name."
Yes, he's aware of the uselessness, but he had no choice, it's the rules, and well, he didn't want his head bitten off by Cassius if he finds out Paz has been slacking.
Paul took the opportunity inquiring more about Cassius as Paz seemed the most annoyed about the man, but he grew silent as Lulu hushed him, reminding him that if Cassius finds out Paz would be looking at janitor duties.
Quite interesting, this.
He changed his tactics and asking about the Daleks, causing Paz to denote them as annoying, since they keep running over his feet.
Like Lulu, he couldn't tell Paul much about the Daleks.
Paul did manage learning how long the Daleks had been around, since Paz accidentally slipped up, much to Lulu's chagrin.
About six months, at most.
Though nothing more since Lulu silenced Paz with a loud hush.
"Okay, Mr. Smith, once you're done with your business, come here, and they will be returned," Paz held his hands together as he tells Paul.
Nodding, Paul affirmed that he understood the rules of the outpost, there Lulu led him towards the doors where she scanned her iris, her fingertips, and her badge.
Slowly, the doors opened, and the air blasted them, allowing them through the corridor.
In the air, Paul smelled the industrial cleaners used to sterlise the lab.
It hurt his nose so strongly that he was forced to cover it as he walked behind Lulu.
She took him up to a certain point, where she stopped and pointed further down the corridor where Paul needed to follow.
Paul was on his own when he began walking through the corridor.
As he walked, he heard the familiar sound of Daleks moving around, their unnaturally pleasant voices, and a man talking among them.
