Obsessively scouring through the aged papers as his angel eyes darts between the ancient texts, Paul mutters to himself as he went through the papers received from his father and mother regarding the TARDIS in the hopes of finding a way of destroying the Master's machine from within.
Bringing him his favorite drink, his mother sat it down adjacent of the stacks of papers while Paul thanks her.
"All this time, I never knew," Paul hears his father remark as he strolls into the kitchen with his large hands in his pockets.
As he frowns, Paul affirms that even he didn't think it was possible, either, but yet here they are with a daunting task.
Sitting adjacent from him, his father shakes his head as he musters, "It should've been destroyed when… how could it survive the dead zone?"
Reaching out and touching his shoulder, Lila tells Theodore, "Even in death the bastard has tricks up his sleeve. Surprised it didn't turn on him when he was alive!"
Recalling an old horror movie, she watched when she was younger, Lila remembers a sentient ship turning on the crew piloting it, and the horrors that come thereafter.
Looking over the spread sheets on the table, Paul explains how the Master kept his machine leashed by making it dependent on him for energy sources.
"Orsolya told me there's a fault somewhere that he never fixed that's worsening by the day, even he didn't trust his machine. If I can find it, I can exploit it," Paul vows.
His angel eyes dashing across the pages, he stops as he remembers what Orsolya said, and searches for what is considered the heart for the machines.
Showing the page to his father, Paul asks him, "If I was to create a bomb, would it be enough to destroy it?"
Thinking it over, Theodore blinks as he muses to himself before he says, "If you could, coupled with the underlying faults, it may be enough."
Prodding her son, Lila asks him, "How're you going to get it inside?"
Shaking his head, Paul says he doesn't intend on getting the bomb inside the Master's machine himself, instead he has an idea.
It'll be a bomb, but it won't be a traditional one that his parents are familiar with.
A reverse energy bomb.
Chewing on his inner lip, Paul thinks about it more, before he brings up the machine's need to feed, and how desperate it became feeding that he thinks that if he can trick it into consuming the bomb, it may be enough.
"I'll make it attractive enough that the machine can't ignore it and when it comes to feed, the bomb will siphon its remaining energy sources until it can't escape, and when the time comes, I'll force the door open, and send it through," Paul sketched out the rough draft of his plan with a notepad on the table.
How this energy bomb will be made, well, that's a different beast all together.
With the schematics of the machines, Paul has a rough idea on what he needs to do to make an effective bomb that the machine couldn't escape from or expel, all he needs is sourcing the parts and the material to create the explosives.
"What about River?" Lila recalls the woman who made her mark being a jack-of-all-trades and would love nothing more than to finish off the Master for good.
Scratching the side of his face, Theodore remembers how wily River can be, and what troubles she gets herself into.
However, if Paul wanted an easy way of sourcing what he needs, River is his best chance, however with her eccentric tendencies, finding her would be a different story.
"Could always track down her husband, I'm sure he has some ideas where she's gone," Theodore suggests Paul's seek the woman.
Nodding, Paul affirms his desire to find River, before Lila urges her son to be careful with the task he's taking on, before he reminds her that he got his nature from her and Theodore.
Further determined by Taylor no longer leaving the safety of the TARDIS out of fear, Paul wanted to find River and entice her help.
"Make sure your uncle knows, hm, he and Dorthy would be glad to chip in. Don't fret about seeking the others' help, my son, you need all the help you can get," Theodore urges Paul to gather other resources for the daunting task awaiting him.
Assuring his father that he intends to do just that, Paul then thanks him for the help.
"You better be careful, Paul, so help me, I'll smack you upside your head if you do anything stupid!" Lila warns him as he collects the papers from the table in a neat pile.
Once more affirming he won't let the machine give him the slip or attempt retaliation, Paul exhales sharply as he vows to end the Master's torment once and for all.
Tilting her head, Lila asks her son, "How's Taylor taking it?"
Rubbing his eyes with his free hand, Paul responds with a wary, "She didn't want to believe the woman she thought was her mother was a mere pawn for the Master that stole her and that she's… I don't know what I'm going to do."
Comforting his son, Theodore assures him he will succeed in keeping Taylor safe from the Master's machine.
So long as Paul remembers the rules of being the Doctor, he will succeed, as his father proclaims.
Thanking him for his belief in him, Paul exhales sharply as he wonders to himself where he'll begin finding River's husband and if he's even alive at this point given the situation unfolding before their eyes.
Giving him a wide grin, Theodore points out that Paul has access to a machine that can reach beyond the stars and beyond.
"Just pick up the phone, hm?" Theodore winks at him.
Giving his parents hugs, he urges them to call if anything's amiss, before taking his leave back to the TARDIS that had been putting up barriers in hopes of throwing off the Master's machine while Paul works out the plans.
Entering the console room, Paul announces his presence and sees Taylor staring at a picture of Romanadvoratrelundar and how eerily similar they are to each other that it was why she was mistaken for her progenitor when she went to Gallifrey with Paul the first time.
Slight imperfections given her hair isn't the platinum blond like Rommy's, but if anything, mutations would happen one way or another given the experiments the Master did before she was created.
She didn't know what DNA strands he used or how he produced them, but it's certain that Taylor wasn't related to the Master, he would never consider the thought, even if it meant twisting the knife deeper.
She wonders what her fate would have been if she didn't fit the Master's narrow vision of perfection, if she would be destroyed or stuffed into a cryogenic pod like Orsolya until the Master's machine saw fit to release her.
On the other hand, what would her fate been had Missy not stolen her.
What else the Master planned on doing with her...
"Is that my purpose, mytruepurpose, to hurt, to destroy?" Taylor questions the Master's motives for her creation. "To be a secondary vessel like... him?"
Stepping towards her, Paul comforts her in her time of need as she glances up from the photo.
Sighing, Paul gives her a straightforward answer about the Master, "Knowing him, he wanted you to be just like her, so it'd hurt my grandfather more when he found out the truth, but I suppose it took longer than he anticipated."
Having been too far along in the project, the Master wasn't able to change the DNA strands without causing catastrophic damage and unintended mutations.
Simply put, he went with the flow, and perhaps Missy was correct to steal Taylor from her cradle when she did, as the Master wouldn't hesitate to destroy anything that wasn't worth the effort in his eyes.
"Regardless, he won't win this game of his, even beyond death, I assure you of it," Paul asserts that he won't allow this transgression to continue as he explains on what he plans on doing to destroy the Master's machine.
Hearing his bold plan, Taylor nods as Paul wraps his arms around her.
Pulling her close, Paul stresses, "All will be well, luv."
THE END