"Eh, sure, get me the usual. Ah, hold on, how about you, you want anything?" Cassius turned his head towards Paul as he stared at the Dalek, trying his hardest to keep his composure, as it remained pleasant with Cassius.
Forcing himself to swallow the trapped air in his throat, Paul replied, "Oh no, none for me thanks."
As fake of a smile he can put on, he tried to keep the facade going as Cassius then ordered the Dalek to get him his tea.
Silently, Paul watched it whirl away from them, heading out of the lab.
It took him a minute to turn his head back to Cassius, the look in those pale eyes, it wasn't the first time he had the Dalek get him tea.
Oh, how Paul wanted to tell him that it wasn't wise to trust a Dalek, especially with food items.
Food tampering's one of the few things Daleks have been getting good at doing as of recent, though they'll still devolve and do the infamous things they're known for, it wasn't wise to trust a Dalek with a teacup.
"So, questions?" Cassius inquired about Paul's questions regarding what the committee had him ask and he stuttered for a moment before beginning to ask questions regarding the Daleks and their intended purpose.
Cassius had strong opinions about himself as he described the process of elimination while trying to figure out a way to help the common man with everyday problems.
The everyday problems stemming from the Daleks.
Whoever Cassius spoke with that got him the idea must hated Daleks just as much as Paul, but that wasn't saying much, as he listened to Cassius describing what terrible things Daleks were, and how he came up with a way to subdue them.
"It's unreasonable to expect our government to kill every one of them, the fatalities growing shy trillions from fighting them every incursion," Cassius gave his speech as he went around the table, looking down at his tools. "I crunched the numbers, there's no chance we can hope to put a dent in their numbers. They have a better chance exterminating us. Not anymore. I developed a way to take a Dalek and turn into something that benefits us and will aid against the conflicts."
Cassius spent the better half of his career practicing his speeches it'd seem!
Setting himself up as someone who wants to help humankind, Cassius did the impossible, creating subversive Daleks that took orders from only humans and human-like, willing to fight against their own.
"And you sure there's no legal trouble?" Paul questioned the legalities of subjecting Daleks to Cassius's work and he insisted that everything was ethically done and filed.
Waving his hand, Cassius stated, "They're Daleks, who cares what happens to them, anyhow, they're a menace to society. So, what if I turned them into simpletons?"
Not one for mincing words, Cassius made it clear that he didn't see anything wrong doing this to the Daleks, pointing out that they're already a deterrent to life as they know it, and if they can't rid them from their lives, might as well find uses for them.
Hence, Cassius's work.
"You're sure you disarmed them?" Paul continued questioning Cassius as he followed the man around his lab, watchful of the Daleks as they slowly moved around, silent, frightening.
Waving his hand, Cassius states that he ensured everything was 'kosher' when he turned the Daleks into helpers.
His brow raised, Paul asks, "H-how do you make them this way?"
Crossing his arms, Cassius implied that he wouldn't tell Paul outwardly since it's his pride and joy, that he couldn't trust Paul not to steal it for himself and take credit for his work.
Looking at the Daleks silently move around, hardly registering them talking, much less that Paul was their nemesis, one of them, standing there, and they're not wanting his blood, Paul exhaled sharply as he explained to Cassius, "Not even I'd take the Devil's hand, Cassius."
Cassius wasn't blind as he scoffed at Paul's comment, stating that this as much of a lesser evil for the Daleks than imprisoning or destroying them.
He brought up that Daleks enslaved entire planets all the time, everything to prove a point, but Paul wouldn't entertain giving him anything to use to prove him right.
"These cretins could have everything under the sun without the hubris and here they are wrecking everything. So, I thought I can make them useful," Cassius summed.
With work, the Daleks under him can do everything humans couldn't.
Anywhere from going into radioactive areas and then some, insurgents for their causes, the opportunities were limitless, as the Daleks.
"Like they gave a damn about their own, anyway," he adds.
Not like Daleks have family dinners with each other or any kind of familial relationships.
All destroy and no substance.
Who cares what happens to a few dozen Daleks?
"But I'm getting lost in my words. I won't tell you how it works, but I can tell you, there won't be a way for them to get back to their terrible selves, even if they tried," Cassius waved his hand.
Proudly, Cassius tells Paul that his process not only effectively turned the Daleks into what they are now, that nothing they can do can reverse it.
They couldn't hurt a fly if they wanted to, incapable of violence towards it and humans, that they're supple for anything needed of them.
Besides, if they encounter their unaltered brethren they'll be destroyed regardless, since as Cassius reminds Paul, Daleks weren't the sort to show sympathy, seeing their altered counterparts would only incite them into violence.
As Daleks do.
And even if they weren't, their brethren would still destroy them, for whatever reason, so there was that.
"I'm hoping the committee will appreciate my efforts in curtailing these bastards," Cassius glimpsed to Paul as his angel eyes remained focused on the Daleks carrying on their tasks without a shrilling word.
As Cassius talked with Paul, the Dalek he tasked with the tea returned, holding the tray with its sole arm.
"Ah, good, I was getting dry there," Cassius happily took the teacup from the tray.
He asked if Paul changed his mind, but Paul politely declined taking tea from the Dalek.
Cassius wasn't going to change his mind about the Daleks, whatever process he used to turn them into this, stemmed from that person he spoke with, and Paul needed to know who gave such an inspiration to Cassius.
Maybe he can deduce what process Cassius created.
Paul won't lie, Daleks deserve everything they done to everyone, from destroying planets to species, they're one of the most horrible creatures in the known world, tied with the Cybermen, and maybe this is their deserved fate, but once more, he is the Doctor.
"I'll have to speak to the committee; may I use your phone?" Paul put on a smile as he requested the use of Cassius's phone and he accepted.
Pointing to one of the Daleks, Cassius ordered it to guide Paul to a phone.
"I. Obey," the teal-coloured Dalek said.
Pushing forward it went towards Paul.
Admittedly, Paul couldn't stop himself from stepping backwards, but Cassius had his laugh, bringing up how 'goofy' Paul looked acting scared like that.
He wouldn't have that outlook if he had to deal with as many Daleks as Paul does on a daily!
"I hope that can sway the committee, hm?" Cassius winks at Paul as he went with the Dalek out of the lab.
Walking alongside the Dalek, Paul felt his two hearts beating against his chest.
He wanted to run, as he usually does when encountering with a Dalek, but here he was, walking with one, and the silence was more petrifying for him.
"D-Dalek, I have to ask, do you have a name?" Paul forced himself to have a conversation with it.
He heard a monotonous, "No."
Even the most isolated Dalek cabals held names and titles.
"D-do you know anything about how you came to be?"
Daleks were made by machines and hate, sometimes machines, flesh, and hate.
"I. Am. Only. To. Serve."
Daleks served, but they have their own whims and wishes like anyone.
"D-do you know your creator?"
Historians can argue back and forth, but only 'true' Daleks know their creator.
"Cassius."
Curious, Paul asks, "Who is your nemesis?"
He heard back, "Daleks."
Well, Daleks fighting each other was a normal experience, but the way the Dalek said it bothered Paul so much, that he had to ask, "Do you know the Doctor?"
The only being to give Daleks such hard times when they're not warring with each other or Cybermen.
So hated, they're imprinted at their inception to despise and destroy the Doctor.
"I. Do. Not."
Paul felt the swirling emotions within him as he couldn't come to terms with what he was witnessing, whether to show pity to a Dalek that had its will stripped from it.
Even if it would have killed him if given the chance.
"What are you orders?"
Exterminate. Annihilate. Destroy.
From the word 'go' Daleks know those three words.
"Take. You. To. The. Phone."
