The TARDIS materialised inside a vast darkened room. The Doctor stepped out, followed by Rose, then the Artist brought up the rear, having checked the scanner to determine their location. "So, what is it?" Rose asked, "What's wrong?"
"Dunno, some kinda signal drawing the TARDIS off-course." the Doctor replied.
"Where are we?" Rose asked, looking at their surroundings.
"We're on Earth, in Utah, North America." the Artist replied, "About a mile underground."
"And, when are we?" was Rose's next question.
"2012." the Time Lords answered together.
"God, that so close." Rose commented, "So I should be... 26."
The Doctor found a light switch and flicked it on. Lights flooded the room and the trio found themselves standing in a museum hall.
"Blimey! It's a great big museum." Rose said.
"An alien museum." the Doctor observed, "Someone's got a hobby. They must've spent a fortune on this." They began to walk through the hall, the Time Lords paying attention to the contents of the display cases. "Chunks of meteorite, moon dust." the Doctor noted, "That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship."
Then Rose spotted something familiar. "That's a bit of Slitheen!" She went over to a case containing a Raxicoricofallapatorian's arm. "That's a Slitheen's arm, it's been stuffed." She read the plague below the case, which said that the arm was found in the wreckage of Downing Street in 2006.
Then the Artist spotted something else. "Doctor, look at this." she called.
The Doctor joined her at a case containing a silver robotic head. "Ah, look at you!" he breathed in recognition.
"What is it?" Rose asked as she joined them.
"An old friend of mine... well, enemy." the Doctor replied, "The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old."
"Is that where the signal's coming from?" Rose questioned.
"Nah, it's stone dead." the Doctor replied, "The signal's alive. Something's reaching out. Calling for help." Without thinking, he began to reach out for the case.
"No, don't!" the Artist warned, "It might be..." But before she could finish, the Doctor's fingers touched the glass and alarms went off. "... alarmed." the Artist finished flatly.
A group of armed soldiers swarmed into the room and aimed assault rifles at the three time travellers. "If someone's collecting aliens, then that makes you two exhibits A an' B." Rose remarked to the Time Lords.
———————————————————————————
The trio were escorted through the establishment to an executive office, where a smartly dressed balding man with a moustache was sitting at a desk being shown an alien artefact by a young English man. "And this is the last." the Englishman said, "Paid $800,000 for it."
"What does it do?" the balding man asked, taking the object from him.
"Well, you see, the tubes on the side must be to channel something." the Englishman replied, "I think maybe fuel..."
"I really wouldn't 'old it that." the Doctor interrupted.
"Shut it!" an officious-looking ginger woman in a suit snapped.
The Doctor ignored her. "Really, though, that's wrong."
"Is it dangerous?" the Englishman asked worriedly.
"No, it just looks silly." the Doctor snorted and held his hand out for the object. The soldiers all promptly raised their guns at him but the balding man held a hand up to stop them and handed the Doctor the object. "You just need to be..." The Doctor gently ran his fingers over the object and it played a soft note, rather like a harmonica. "...delicate."
The Humans all looked suitably impressed. "It's a musical instrument." the balding man observed.
"And it's a long way from home." the Doctor said, then offered the instrument to the Artist. "Want a go?" he offered.
"Why not?" the Time Lady shrugged, "Haven't seen one of them in years." She took the instrument and ran her fingers over it, playing more soft notes.
"Here, let me." the balding man said, snatching the instrument from the Artist and running his fingers over it, causing it to make harsh bleeping noises.
"He did say delicate." the Artist advised, "It reacts to the smallest fingerprint, so it needs precision."
The balding man touched the object more gently and softer notes played.
"Very good." the Doctor commented, "Quite the expert."
"As are you two." the man said, tossing the instrument aside, "Who exactly are you?"
"I'm the Doctor." the Time Lord replied, giving the man a disdainful look over his careless disregard for the valuable instrument, "And who are you?"
"Like you don't know." the man scoffed, "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in world and you just stumbled in by mistake."
"Pretty much sums us up, yeah." the Doctor said simply.
"The question is, how did you get in?" the man asked coolly, "53 floors down. With ya little cat burglar accomplices." He looked at the Artist and Rose with leering eyes. "Quite a collector yourself, they're rather pretty."
"You are gonna get a smack if ya keep looking at us like that." Rose threatened.
The man seemed amused at the threat. "This one's English too!" he laughed, and turned to the Englishman. "Hey little Lord Fauntleroy, got ya a girlfriend."
The Englishman just rolled his eyes. "This is Mr Henry Van Statten." he said.
"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose asked, unimpressed.
"Mr Van Statten owns the internet."
"Don't be stupid, no one owns the internet." Rose scoffed.
"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that, right kid?" Van Statten smirked, then turned to the Artist. "And what about you, gorgeous? You English too?"
"That's none of your business." the Time Lady replied coolly.
The Doctor wasn't amused by Van Statten either. "So yer an expert on just about anything except the things in yer museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up."
"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten challenged.
"I don't need to make claims, I know how good I am." the Doctor said flippantly.
"Modest as ever." the Artist commented dryly.
"And yet, I captured you." Van Statten said to the Doctor, "Right next to the Cage. What were you doing there?"
"You tell me." the Doctor challenged.
"The Cage contains my one living specimen."
"And what's that?"
"Like you don't know."
"Show me."
"You wanna see it?"
"Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." Rose cut in dryly.
The Doctor and Van Statten stared icily at each other for a moment then Van Statten turned to the ginger woman. "Goddard, inform the cage we're heading down." he ordered, and the woman nodded, then Van Statten turned to the Englishman. "You, English, look after Blondie. Canoodle or spoon, or whatever it is you British do." He turned to the Time Lords. "And you two...Gorgeous girl and Doctor-with-no-name, come and see my little pet."
———————————————————————————
Van Statten took the Time Lords to the 'Cage', a room that was sealed off with a bank vault-like door. "We're tried everything." Van Statten explained, "The creature has... shielded itself, but there's definite signs of life inside." He punched a key code into a keypad beside the Cage door, which began to open.
"Inside? Inside what?" the Doctor wandered.
A man in orange overalls exited the Cage. "Welcome back, sir." he said to Van Statten, "I've had to take the power down. The Metaltron is resting."
"Metaltron?" the Artist raised a brow.
"Thought of it myself." Van Statten smirked, "Good isn't it? Although I'd much prefer to find out it's real name."
The Doctor and the Artist began to head towards the Cage. "Here, you'd better put these on." the man in overalls said to the Doctor, offering him a pair of thick gloves, "The last guy that touched it... burst into flames."
"I won't touch it then." the Doctor replied nonchalantly.
"And I've got my own gloves." the Artist said, holding up her leather glove-clad hands.
"Go ahead, Doctor." Van Statten said to the Time Lord, "Impress me."
With placid expressions, the Time Lords entered the Cage and the door shut behind them. The inside of the Cage was dark, but the Time Lords could see some torture implements on a table in the corner. They dreaded to think what Van Statten and his lackeys had been doing to whatever was in this room. Through the darkness, they could see a blue light giving away the alien's location.
"Look, I'm sorry about this." the Doctor called out, "Mr Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. We've come to help. I'm the Doctor and this is the Artist."
"Doc-tor?" a harsh metallic voice called out from the darkness.
Both Time Lords went as white as sheets. "Impossible." the Doctor breathed in absolute shock.
"Can't be." the Artist quivered.
"The Doctor?" the voice called out. The Time Lords watched, both wide-eyed in horror and terror as the lights came on, revealing the Metaltron chained up in a corner of the room. The Metaltron was a battered bronze pepper pot-shaped object with an eyestalk on top and a plunger arm and laser gun on it's mid-section. "Exterminate! Exterminate!" it bellowed, "Exterminate!"
"Let us out!" the Doctor yelled, frantically banging on the door of the Cage and protectively throwing a terrified Artist behind him.
"Exterminate!" the Metaltron continued to yell, "You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!"
It waved it's gun around helplessly and the Doctor's terrified expression faded into a huge grin. "It's not working!" he said and laughed manically, "Fantastic! Oh, FANTASITC! Powerless! Look at you, the Great Space Dustbin. How does it feel?"
He lunged at the Dalek, which strained against it's chains. "Keep back!" it screeched.
The Doctor just stormed right up to it and looked directly into it's eyestalk. "What for? Whatcha gonna do to me?" He began to circle the Dalek. "If you can't kill... then what yer good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? Yer nothing! What the hell are yer here for?"
"I am waiting for orders." the Dalek answered.
"What does that mean?"
"I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders."
"Well yer never get any." the Doctor snarled, "Not ever."
"I demand orders!" the Dalek bellowed.
"They're never gonna come!" the Doctor yelled back, "Your race is dead! You burned, all of yer. Ten million ships on fire, the entire Dalek race wiped out in one second."
"You lie!" the Dalek screeched.
"I watched it happen. I made it happen!" the Doctor snapped almost gleefully.
"You destroyed us?!"
The Doctor turned away from the Dalek and faced the Artist, who was standing by the door and glaring furiously at the Dalek, her hands balled into fists. "I had no choice." the Doctor said quietly.
"And what of the Time Lords?" the Dalek asked.
The Doctor paused. "Dead." he said at last, "They burnt with you. The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost."
"And the coward survived."
"Oh, and we caught your little signal." the Doctor said mockingly, "'Help me', poor little thing." He resumed his normal tone. "But there's no one coming cos' there's no else left."
The Dalek lowered it's eyestalk. "I am alone in the universe."
"Yep." the Doctor smiled unpleasantly.
"So are you."
The Doctor's smile faded.
"We are the same."
The Artist spoke up at last. "He is nothing like you!" she snapped, storming up to the Dalek, "Cos' he's got me, the last Time Lady, but you... you've got no one! Two Time Lords, only one Dalek, and there's nothing you can do about it!" she gloated.
The Doctor put a hand on the fuming Time Lady's shoulder. "No, wait, maybe it's right." he said, and turned to the Dalek. "Yeah, okay, you've got a point. Cos' I know what to do. I know what should happen. I know what you deserve." He raised his eyebrows and grinned wickedly. "Exterminate." He pulled a lever on the control panel behind him and the Dalek was immediately engulfed by electricity.
"Have pity!" it screamed.
"Why should I? You never did." the Doctor glared.
"Whole families begged for mercy and you just butchered 'em without a second thought!" the Artist growled, "See how you like it!"
The Doctor promptly upped the voltage, causing the Dalek to scream in agony, while the Time Lords just watched with manic looks in their eyes.
Just then, Van Statten's guards burst in and pulled the Doctor away from the controls. Van Statten himself came in and addressed the Dalek; "I saved your life, now talk to me! Goddamn it, talk to me!
"You've gotta destroy it!" the Doctor yelled as he and the Artist were dragged away by the guards.
"The last in the universe." Van Statten continued, "And now I know your name. Dalek. Speak to me, Dalek." The Dalek was silent. "I am Henry Van Statten, now recognise me!" The Dalek remained silent. Van Statten turned to the man in overalls. "Make it talk again, Simmons. Whatever it takes." He walked away while Simmons approached the Dalek with a malicious glint in his eyes.
———————————————————————————
Meanwhile, Rose was with the Englishman, who she found out was named Adam Mitchell. Adam took Rose to his workshop. "Sorry about the mess." he said as Rose looked around, "Mr Van Statten sorta lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods." He handed Rose an object off his desk. "What d'you think that is?"
"Er... a lump of metal?" she shrugged.
"Yeah. Yeah, but I think... well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spaceship."
Rose finished examining the lump of metal and put it back on Adam's desk.
"The thing is, it's all true." Adam continued, "Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spaceships, visitors to Earth, they really exist."
"That's amazing." Rose replied, trying her best to sound surprised.
"I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe that the whole universe is teeming with life."
"I'm gob-smacked, yeah. And you do what? Sit here and catalogue it?"
"Best job in the world." Adam said proudly.
"Imagine if ya could get out there." Rose pressed carefully, "Travel amongst the stars and see it for real."
"Yeah... I'd give anything." Adam sighed, "But I don't think it's ever gonna happen, not in our lifetimes."
"Oh, ya never know..." Rose said nonchalantly, "What about those people who say they've been inside spaceships and things and talked to aliens?"
"I think they're nutters." Adam snorted.
"Yeah, me too." Rose said hastily, and they shared a laugh. "So, how'd ya end up here?"
"Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit." Adam replied.
"Ah, right, you're a genius." Rose raised a brow.
"Sorry, but yeah... can't help it. I was born clever." Adam shrugged, "When I was eight, I logged onto the US defence system, nearly caused World War Three."
"What, and that's funny is it?" Rose frowned. For her, it had been only last week that the Slitheen had tried to destroy the world by starting the Third World War, so it was no laughing matter for her.
"Well you should've been there!" Adam defended, "Just to see them running around! Fantastic!"
"You sound like the Doctor." Rose commented.
"Are you and him...?"
"God, no!" Rose snorted, "We're just friends." She had no romantic feelings for the Doctor whatsoever. He wasn't even Human for one thing, and despite their claims to the contrary, she suspected that the Doctor and the Artist had feelings for each other.
"Good." Adam nodded.
"Why's it good?" Rose probed.
"Just is." Adam said hastily.
There was a pause then Rose decided to change the subject, "So... wouldn't ya rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mr Van Statten's got a living creature down there."
"Yeah... yeah, I did ask but he keeps it to himself." Adam replied, "Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch in on the comm systems."
"Let's have a look then." Rose laughed.
Adam turned to his computer and tapped a few keys. "It doesn't do much, the alien." he explained, "It's weird, it's kind of... useless, it's just like this... great big pepper pot."
They accessed the cameras that surveyed the Cage, where they saw Simmons approach the Dalek and begin to torture it with one of the implements, causing the Dalek to scream. "It's being tortured!" Rose cried in alarm, "Where're the Doctor and the Artist?" She knew that the Time Lords had been going down to the Cage, but they were now nowhere to be seen.
"I don't know." Adam replied.
"Take me down there. Now." Rose demanded, striding out of the room, Adam having no choice but to follow.
———————————————————————————
Meanwhile, the Time Lords, Van Statten, Goddard and a couple of guards stepped into a lift, the Time Lords having calmed down from their earlier moment of madness. "The metal's just battle armour." the Doctor explained, "The real Dalek creature's inside."
"What's it look like?" Van Statten asked.
"Like a nightmare." the Artist told him, "It's a hideous mutation. The Dalek race were genetically engineered to have only one emotion: hate."
Van Statten was actually impressed by this. "Genetically engineered... by whom?"
"By a genius, Van Statten." the Doctor replied gruffly, "By a man who was king of his own little world, you'd like him."
"It's been on Earth for over 50 years, sold at a private auction moving from one collection to another." Goddard said, "Why would it be a threat now?"
"Because I'm here." the Doctor replied grimly, "How did it get to Earth? Does anyone know?"
"Records say it fell from the sky like a meteorite." Goddard replied, "It fell to Earth on the Ascension Islands, burnt in it's crater for three days before anybody could get near it and all that time it was screaming. It must've gone insane."
"It must've fallen through time." the Artist mused, "The only survivor."
"You talked about a war?" Goddard remarked to the Doctor.
"The Time War." he replied, "The final battle between our people and the Dalek race."
"But you both survived too." Van Statten said, a greedy glint in his eye that neither Time Lord noticed.
"Not by choice." the Doctor muttered.
"This means that the Dalek isn't the only alien on Earth, there's you two." Van Statten smirked, "The only two of your kind in existence."
The Time Lords shared a look, realising that they'd said too much.
The lift arrived at the floor where Van Statten's office was located and the two guards promptly grabbed the two Time Lords. "Take the girl to my office." Van Statten ordered, "I'll examine her later." He grinned deviously at the prospect of examining such a beautiful woman. "We'll take the Doctor to the examination room." he told the other guard, "May as well get him of the way first."
"Don't you touch him!" the Artist burst out, struggling against her guard as he dragged her out of the lift.
"I'll be alright." the Doctor told her, "I've 'ad worse. Just do as they say."
The Artist glared angrily at Van Statten. "If he gets so much as a scratch on him, you'll find out just how bad the fury of a Time Lady really is." she told him.
Van Statten just smirked at the threat and closed the lift door.
———————————————————————————
The Doctor was taken to an examination room where he was stripped to the waist and chained to a rack. Van Statten stood behind an X-ray scanner that was aimed at the Time Lord. "Now, smile." he grinned and activated the scanner. The Doctor grimaced and moaned in pain from the scan. The scan showed the Doctor's ribcage with two hearts beating inside it. "Two hearts!" Van Statten cheered, "A binary vascular system! Oh, I am so gonna patent this!"
"So that's yer secret." the Doctor ground out, "You don't just collect this stuff, you scavenge it."
"This technology's been falling to Earth for centuries." Van Statten remarked, "All it took was the right mind to use it properly. Oh, the advances from alien junk, you have no idea, Doctor. Broadband? Roswell. Just last year my scientists cultivated bacteria from the Russian crater, and do ya know what they found? The cure for the common cold. Kept it strictly within the laboratory of course, no need to get people excited. Why sell one cure when I can sell a thousand palliatives?" he finished smugly.
The Doctor glared angrily at him. "D'yer know what a Dalek is, Van Statten? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of it's species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you."
Van Statten was completely unfazed by this. "In that case, I will be true to myself and continue." he shrugged and walked back to the scanner.
"Listen to me!" the Doctor pleaded, "That thing downstairs is gonna kill every last one of us!"
"Nothing can escape the cage." Van Statten retorted and scanned the Doctor again, causing him to writhe in pain.
"But it's woken up!" the Doctor tried when the scan had finished, "It knows I'm here! It's gonna get out! Van Statten, I swear no one on this base safe! No one on this planet!"
But Van Statten wasn't interested in listening to reason and just scanned the Doctor again.
———————————————————————————
Meanwhile, Adam and Rose arrived at the cage. "Hold it right there!" the guard's commander, Bywater, demanded.
"Level three access." Adam said, flashing his ID card at him, "Special clearance from Mr Van Statten." They passed Simmons and entered the Cage, where Rose stared at the Dalek. "Don't get too close." Adam warned her.
Rose carefully walked up to the Dalek and peered into it's eyestalk. "Hello?" she began, "Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler. I've got two friends. They can help. They're called the Doctor and the Artist. What's your name?"
"Yes." the Dalek spoke up.
"What?"
The Dalek raised it's eyestalk up to look at Rose. "I am in pain." it said in a weak, pathetic voice, "They torture me. But still they fear me. Do you fear me?"
"No." Rose said defiantly.
The Dalek lowered it's eyestalk. "I am dying."
"No, we can help!" Rose encouraged.
"I welcome death." the Dalek croaked, "But I am glad... that before I die... I met a human who was not afraid."
Rose felt overwhelmed with pity. "Is there anything I can do?" she offered.
"My race is dead. I shall die alone."
A sympathetic Rose reached a hand out to comfort the Dalek. "Rose no!" Adam warned, remembering hearing about a man who had burst into flames upon touching the Dalek.
But it was too late. Rose's hand made contact with the Dalek's casing, which promptly burned bright orange, causing the blonde to snatch her hand away. "Genetic material extrapolated." the Dalek announced, it's voice back to normal, "Initiate cellular reconstruction!"
The Dalek promptly burst out of it's chains with a new lease of life. Alarmed, Rose and Adam backed up to the door as Simmons came in with a gun. "What the hell have ya done?!" he glared at Rose then approached the Dalek, which aimed it's sucker arm at him. "Watcha gonna do? Sucker me to death?" he taunted.
No sooner had those words left his mouth, when the Dalek's sucker arm latched itself onto Simmons' face and crushed it like a paper cup. Horrified, Rose and Adam rushed outside. "It's killing him!" Rose shrieked to Bywater, "Do something!"
Bywater immediately got onto his communications earpiece; "Condition red! Repeat: Condition red! This is not a drill!"
———————————————————————————
In the examination room, Van Statten and the Doctor heard the alarm. "Release me if you wanna live." the Doctor croaked.
———————————————————————————
Van Statten wisely complied and he and the Doctor were soon arriving at Van Statten's office where Goddard and the Artist were waiting. A wall monitor showed the feed from the Cage. "You've gotta keep it in it's cell." the Doctor informed Bywater.
"Doctor, it's all my fault." Rose sighed, cursing herself for having been so gullible.
"I've sealed the compartment." Bywater said, "It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations."
"The Dalek's a genius." the Doctor countered, "It can calculate a billion combinations in a few seconds flat."
Sure enough, the door to the Cage began to open, so Bywater and a female guard aimed their pistols at the opening door, while Rose and Adam stood behind. "Open fire!" Bywater ordered, and he and the female guard opened fire on the Dalek.
"Don't shoot it, I want it unharmed!" Van Statten spluttered.
The Doctor and the Artist both glared at him. An evil alien killing machine on the loose, and he was putting it before the lives of all the humans on Earth!
"Rose, stop gawping and get outta there!" the Artist hollered, but Rose didn't budge, she just stared transfixed as the Dalek trundled out of the cage, completely unharmed by the bullets being fired at it and crossed over towards a computer terminal on the wall.
Seeing that their bullets were having no affect, Bywater turned to his colleague. "De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive." he ordered, "That is your job, got that?"
De Maggio nodded and turned to Rose and Adam. "You two, with me." she said and led them out of the room.
The Dalek rolled over to the monitor screen which was showing the Time Lords, Van Statten and Goddard, and slammed it's sucker arm into it, smashing the screen. Then, electricity began flowing along the arm and into the Dalek itself, it's damaged armour repairing itself and the rust fading away until the Dalek looked spotless.
"Abandoning the cage, sir." Bywater said into his earpiece and wisely hurried out of the room.
———————————————————————————
Goddard was hurriedly tapping into her computer as the Doctor, the Artist and Van Statten looked over her shoulder. "It's draining the base, we're loosing power." she reported, "Oh, my god. It's raiding power supplies for the whole of Utah."
"It's downloading." the Doctor realised.
"Downloading what?" Van Statten questioned, still not getting the danger everyone was in.
"Sir, the entire West Coast has gone down." Goddard told him. Unlike her boss, she was getting it.
"It's not just energy. That Dalek just absorbed the entire internet. It knows everything." the Doctor said grimly.
———————————————————————————
The Dalek backed away from the computer. "The Daleks survive in me!" it announced and began test firing it's gun, which was now working again.
———————————————————————————
"Sir, the cameras in the vault have gone down." Goddard reported, checking various feeds on her computer.
"We've only got emergency power, it's eaten everything else, yer've got to kill it now!" the Doctor urged.
Goddard took the hint and spoke into her earpiece; "All guards converge on the Metaltron cage immediately!"
———————————————————————————
De Maggio led Rose and Adam down a corridor where armed guards were readying their weapons. "Civilians, let 'em through!" De Maggio called to her colleagues and led the two civilians down the corridor and round a corner out of sight. The remaining guards took aim in the direction they knew the Dalek would be coming from.
Soon, Bywater came running into view. "Cover the north wall." he ordered, "Red Division, maintain suppressing fire along the perimeter. Blue division, hold..." He was cut off when he was struck by a bolt of energy, which caused his skeleton to briefly become visible before he crashed to the floor dead.
The Dalek came into view and the soldiers promptly opened fire on it, but their bullets simply melted in thin air before they could even touch the armour. The Dalek was surrounded, but it simply picked off the soldiers one by one, it's mid-section swivelling round to deal with two guards who tried to take it from behind.
———————————————————————————
In Van Statten's office, the sounds of the battle could be heard over the comms. "Tell them to stop shooting at it!" Van Statten ordered.
"It's killing them!" Goddard protested.
"They're dispensable, that Dalek is unique." Van Statten waved her off and grabbed the intercom, "I don't want a scratch on it's bodywork. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?"
The sounds of gunfire faded into silence, but not because Van Statten's orders were being obeyed, but because there was no one left alive to follow them. The Doctor, the Artist and Goddard all gave Van Statten furious glares, then turned their attention to a map of the base on Goddard's computer screen. "That's us, right below the surface." Goddard explained, "That's the Cage, and that's the Dalek." She indicated a blue light moving along a corridor.
"This museum of yours, have yer got any alien weapons?" the Doctor questioned.
"Lots of them, but the trouble is the Dalek's between us and them." Goddard replied.
"We've gotta keep that thing alive." Van Statten said, "We could just seal the entire vault, trap it down there."
"And leaving everyone trapped down there with it?" the Artist countered, "Rose is down there, along with hundreds of other people. We're not trapping them just cos' you think ya stupid collection is more important than them! Have ya got that, Van Statten?!" She turned back to the map. "The Dalek's gotta go through that area. What is it?"
"Weapons testing." Goddard replied.
"Give guns to the lawers, technicians, anyone. Everyone." the Doctor ordered, "Only then have yer a chance of killing it."
Goddard nodded and got up to do so, the Doctor taking her place at the computer.
———————————————————————————
Rose, Adam and De Maggio reached a flight of stairs. "Stairs! That's more like!" Rose grinned, "It 'asn't got legs, it's stuck!"
"It's coming! Get up!" De Maggio urged, so they hurried up the stairs and watched as the Dalek arrived and stopped at the foot of the stairs.
"Great big alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs." Adam gloated.
De Maggio aimed her pistol at the Dalek. "Now, listen to me. I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, then I guarantee that Mr Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops. Right now. The killing stops, have ya got that?" The Dalek watched her, but said nothing. "I demand that you surrender, is that clear?"
There was a short pause, then the Dalek spoke at last; "Elevate." And it promptly levitated off the floor and hovered up the first few steps.
"Oh, my god." Rose breathed, while Adam looked gob smacked, regretting taunting the Dalek now.
"Adam, get her out!" De Maggio ordered as the Dalek proceeded up the stairs.
"Come with us, ya can't stop it!" Rose urged her.
"Someone's gotta try." De Maggio said bravely, "Now get out!" She pushed them away. "Don't look back, just run!"
Rose and Adam hurried up the rest of the stairs and into the corridor. They heard gunshots, followed by the sound of the Dalek's weapon and De Maggio screaming.
———————————————————————————
Van Statten paced in his office. "I thought you were the great experts, Doctor and whatever-your-name-is." he said to the Time Lords, who were both monitoring the Dalek's progress on the monitor, "If you're both so impressive, then why not just reason with this Dalek? It must be willing to negotiate. There must be something it needs, everything needs something."
"Where's the nearest town?" the Doctor asked.
"Salt Lake City."
"Population?"
"One million."
"All dead. If the Dalek gets out, it'll murder every living creature, that's all it needs."
"But why would it do that?!" Van Statten cried.
"Because it honestly thinks they should die." the Artist told him grimly, "Human beings are different, and Daleks believe that everything different is wrong."
"It's the ultimate in racial cleansing." the Doctor agreed, "And you, Van Statten, you've let it loose!"
———————————————————————————
In the weapons testing area, soldiers and technicians took up their positions. "The Dalek's surrounded by a forcefield." the Doctor said over the intercom, "The bullets are melting before they even hit home. If you concentrate yer fire, yer might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece, that's the weakest spot."
"Thank you, Doctor, but I think I know how to fight one little tin robot." the commander scoffed. "Positions!" he ordered, and his men all readied their weapons, then they all waited apprehensively. After a few moments, Rose and Adam ran into view. "Hold ya fire!" the commander ordered his men, and turned to the two civilians, "You two, get the hell outta there!"
Rose and Adam ran past the soldiers and reached the door at the other end of the room just as the Dalek came into view. They stopped for a moment to watch it. The Dalek stopped too and focused on them, it's eyestalk zooming in on Rose's face, then it turned in their direction. Adam grabbed Rose's hand and tried to pull her away. "It was looking at me." the blonde frowned.
"Yeah, it wants to slaughter us!" Adam rolled his eyes.
"I know, but it was looking right at me."
"So?" Adam scoffed impatiently, "It's just a sort of a metal eye thing, it's looking all round!"
"I don't know..." Rose shook her head. "It's like there's something inside looking at me, like... like it knows me."
The Dalek made it's way through the room. "On my mark..." the commander said as the Dalek looked up at them, "Open fire!"
They opened fire on the Dalek, but like before, their bullets had no affect.
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In Van Statten's office, a wall monitor switched itself on, showing the battle in the weapons testing area. "We've got visual." Goddard reported.
"It wants us to see." the Doctor said as he and the Artist got up to look at the monitor.
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The Dalek looked directly at the camera, completely unfazed by the volley of gunshots being fired at it. It slowly levitated into the air until it was hovering by the ceiling, then it fired at the fire alarm, causing the sprinklers to rain water down on the soldiers. The bullets kept coming, but the Dalek paid no heed. It aimed at the huge puddle of water that had formed on the floor and fired at it, frying the majority of the soldiers, who were standing in the puddle. They all fell like flies, leaving just the commander and a few men who were standing on an overhead gantry.
"Fall back!" the commander hollered, "Fall back!" But before they could get to safety, the Dalek fired at the gantry, electrifying it and frying the remaining men.
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There was a stunned silence in Van Statten's office. The Doctor and the Artist both looked down at the floor, griping each other's hands and the Doctor was breathing heavily in shock, while a few tears ran down the Artist's face in respect for all the brave people who had just lost their lives.
"Perhaps it's time for a new strategy." Van Statten spoke up, finally realising the true gravity of the situation, "Maybe we should consider abandoning this place."
"Except there's no power to the helipad, sir." Goddard spat, having had enough of her stupid boss, "We can't get out."
"You said you could seal the vault." the Doctor said to Van Statten.
"It was designed to be a bunker." Van Statten explained, moving to the computer, "In the event of nuclear war, steel bulkheads..."
"There's not enough power, those bulkheads are massive." Goddard told the Time Lords.
"We've got emergency power." the Doctor countered, "We can re-route that to the bulkheads."
"We'd have to bypass the security codes." Goddard pointed out, "That would take a computer genius!"
"Good thing you've got me, then." Van Statten said.
"You wanna help?" the Doctor scoffed. So far, Van Statten had been nothing but a nuisance, now he actually wanted to do something useful!
"I don't wanna die, Doctor, simple as that." Van Statten said, "Nobody knows this software better than me."
Then, Goddard noticed the security footage of the weapons testing area come back on, showing the Dalek standing in the middle of the room, facing the camera. "Sir, ma'am." she called to the Time Lords, who both looked at the screen.
"I shall speak only to the Time Lords." the Dalek stated.
The Doctor and the Artist slowly walked up to the monitor, neither of them taking their eyes off the Dalek. "Yer gonna get rusty." the Doctor remarked stiffly.
"I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler." the Dalek said, "Extrapolating the biomass of a time traveller regenerated me."
"And what's ya next trick, evil juggling?" the Artist baited.
"I have been searching for the Daleks."
"Yeah, we saw." the Doctor said, "Downloading the internet. What did yer find?"
"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes."
"And?"
"Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?!"
"Yer just a soldier without commands."
"Then I shall follow the primary order, the Dalek instinct to destroy! To conquer!"
"What for?" the Doctor asked in exasperation, "What's the point? Don't yer see? It's all gone. Everything you were, everything you stood for."
"Then what should I do?"
"All right then." the Doctor said, a hard look on his face, "If yer want orders... follow this one: kill yourself."
"The Daleks must survive!"
"The Daleks have failed!" the Doctor exploded with pure hatred, "Why don't yer finish the job and make the Daleks extinct?! Rid the universe of yer filth, why don't yer just DIE?!"
The Dalek was silent for a few seconds, then said; "You would make an excellent Dalek." The Doctor stared dumbstruck at the screen, feeling like he'd just been punched in the stomach.
Now it was the Artist's turn to explode at the Dalek. "DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE HIM TO YOU!" she roared, "HE'S A GOOD MAN, WHILE YOU, YOU'RE JUST A VILE, EVIL ABOMINATION!" And with that, she flashed her sonic screwdriver at the screen to shut it off before the Dalek could retort.
There was a brief silence in the room, punctuated by the Artist's heavy breathing, then the Doctor spoke to Van Statten; "Seal the vaults."
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The Doctor and Van Statten were soon busy typing away on the computer. "I can leech power off the ground defences, feed it to the bulkheads." Van Statten explained, "It's been since I've had to work this fast."
"Are you enjoying this?" the Doctor scowled.
"Your friend, she's still down there." Goddard reminded.
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Adam and Rose were running up a flight of stairs when Rose's mobile rang. "This isn't the best time." the blonde said as she answered.
"Where are you?" the Artist asked, having borrowed Goddard's earpiece to contact their companion.
"Level 49."
"You've gotta keep moving. The vault's being sealed, the bulkhead's at level 46."
"Can't ya stop 'em closing?"
"We're the ones closing 'em. We can't wait and we can't help you. Now for god's sakes, stop stopping to gawp at the Dalek and run for it!"
Rose and Adam promptly quickened up the pace.
"Done it." Van Statten announced, "We've got power to the bulkheads."
"The Dalek's right behind them." Goddard warned.
Rose and Adam reached floor 46. "We're nearly there, give us two seconds." Rose said into her phone.
"Doctor, I can't sustain the power." Van Statten said, "The whole system is failing." The Doctor looked at him. "Doctor, you've gotta close the bulkheads."
The Doctor paused for a few seconds, trying to summon the courage. "I'm sorry." he breathed and hit the enter key on his keyboard.
Rose and Adam reached the corridor where the bulkhead was beginning to close. Adam was nearly there, but Rose was falling behind. "Come on!" the male urged. The bulkhead was only a foot away from the ground as Adam rolled underneath it.
The Time Lords stared intently at the screen, waiting. "The vault is sealed." Van Statten announced.
"Rose, where are you?" the Artist said into her earpiece, "Did ya make it?"
Rose leaned against the wrong side of the bulkhead, taking a few steadying breaths before she answered; "Sorry, I was a bit slow."
The Time Lords' hearts sank.
Rose glanced behind her to see the Dalek's shadow around the corner, then she turned away "See ya both then, Doctor, Artist. It wasn't either of yours fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. An' d'ya know what?" She choked up. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." She turned slowly around to face the Dalek as it approached her.
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"Exterminate!" the Dalek's voice came over the comm, followed by the sound of it's weapon.
The Artist tore the earpiece out and let it fall to the floor as she stood numbly in shock, while the Doctor buried his head in his hands. "I killed her." he breathed in shock and horror.
"I'm sorry." Van Statten said.
That snapped the Artist out of her shock. She stormed over to Van Statten and slammed her fist into his eye. "We promised we'd protect her! She was only here because of us, and you're sorry?! WE COULD'VE KILLED THAT DALEK IN IT CELL, AND YOU STOPPED US!" she thundered.
"It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten blustered, nursing his black eye.
"YOUR COLLECTION?!" the Doctor spat furiously, "But was it worth it? Worth all those men's' deaths? Worth Rose? Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater."
"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!"
"You just wanna drag the stars down and stick 'em underground underneath tons of sand and dirt and label 'em." the Doctor sneered contemptuously, "You're about as far from the stars as yer can get. And you took her down with you." he finished and turned to the Artist, who's anger had turned to grief. He pulled her into his arms and let her cry into his shoulder while he gently stroked her hair in comfort.
"She was 19-years old." she sobbed, "She had her whole life ahead of her."
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Rose cautiously opened her eyes to find that she was still alive. She peered round to see that the Dalek was just standing there. "Go on then, kill me." Still nothing happened. "Why're you doing this?"
"I am armed." the Dalek said, "I will kill. It it my purpose."
"They're all dead because of you!" Rose said angrily.
"They are dead because of US." the Dalek countered.
"And now what? What're ya waiting for?"
"I feel your fear."
"What d'ya expect?!"
"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear." the Dalek said in an almost frenzied tone, then fired wildly at the wall either side of Rose. "You gave me life. What else have you given me?!" it screeched hysterically, "I am contaminated!"
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Adam stepped out of the lift into Van Statten's office. The Doctor promptly rounded on him. "You were quick on yer feet, leaving Rose behind." he sneered.
"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" Adam retorted indignantly.
But before the Time Lords could retort to that, the screen sprang to life, showing Rose standing by the Dalek's side. "Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies." the Dalek demanded.
The Time Lords stepped towards the screen. "You're alive!" the Doctor cheered in joy and relief.
"Can't get rid of me." Rose replied.
"We thought you were dead." the Artist said, wiping her eyes.
"Open the bulkhead!" the Dalek demanded.
"Don't do it!" Rose shouted defiantly.
"What use are emotions if you will not save your friend?" the Dalek taunted.
Both the Doctor and the Artist were stunned at this. Daleks never understood about friendships, they would just refer to friends as associates.
They shared a look, then the Doctor crossed over to the computer. "I killed her once. I can't do it again." And he hit the enter key.
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On floor 46, the bulkhead opened and Rose and the Dalek slowly went through it.
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"What do we do now?" Van Statten cried desperately, "Ya bleeding hearts, what the hell do we do?!"
"Kill it when it gets here." Adam suggested.
"All the guns are useless, and the alien weapons are in the vault." Goddard said gloomily.
Adam swallowed hard. "Only the catalogued ones." he said, earning himself a pointed look from Van Statten. Adam just smiled apologetically.
"Good idea." the Doctor nodded, and turned to the Artist. "I'll take care of this, you'd better stay here."
"No chance." she told him firmly, "We're in this together."
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Adam took the Time Lords to his workshop, where they rifled through a basket of un-catalogued weapons. The Artist soon found a rifle-like weapon which just needed charging up, so she got to work with her sonic to do that, while the Doctor continued to rummage through the basket. "Broken. Broken. Hairdryer." he commented as he chucked a few away.
"Mr Van Statten tends to dispose of his staff, and when he does, he wipes their memory." Adam explained, "I keep this stuff in case I need to fight my way out one day."
"What, you in a fight?" the Doctor scoffed, "I'd like to see that."
"I could do." Adam said indignantly.
"What're yer gonna do, throw yer A-levels at them?" the Doctor retorted, before pulling out a vicious-looking gun. "Oh, yes. Lock and load!" He turned to the Artist, who had finished charging up her weapon. "Ready?" the Doctor asked. The Artist nodded, cocking her weapon, then they set off to find the Dalek.
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Rose and the Dalek were in the lift, going up to Van Statten's office. "I'm begging you, don't kill them." Rose said nervously, "Ya didn't kill me."
The Dalek spun it's dome round to look at her, causing her to duck to avoid it's eyestalk. "But why not?" it screeched, "Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What AM I?"
The lift doors opened to reveal Van Statten standing there waiting. "Don't move!" Rose warned, "Don't do anything, it's beginning to question itself."
The Dalek advanced on it's former captor. "Van Statten, you tortured me. Why?"
"I wanted to help you." a terrified Van Statten blustered, backing away, "I just... I don't know, I, I was just trying to help. I thought that if we could get through to you, if we could mend you... I wanted you better, I'm sorry." The Dalek continued to advance on him, backing him up against the wall. "I'm so sorry! I swear! I just wanted you to talk!"
"Then hear me talk now." the Dalek retorted, "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
"Don't do it!" Rose hollered, rushing over, "Don't kill him!" The Dalek spun it's dome to look at her and she looked right into it's eyestalk. "You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else. Not just killing... what else is there? What d'ya want?"
The Dalek turned back to Van Statten, then back to Rose. "I want freedom."
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The Doctor and the Artist ran up the stairs, their alien weapons in hand.
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Rose and the Dalek stepped onto floor 1 of the base. The Dalek fired it's weapon at the ceiling, making a hole which sunlight streamed through, shining on the Dalek. "Ya out. You made it." Rose said. "Never thought I'd see sunlight again." she commented.
"How... does... it... feel?" the Dalek croaked, sounding strained, then it opened up it's casing to reveal the mutant inside. The mutant looked something like an octopus with a huge eye in the centre and tentacles, which it reached out into the sunlight.
"Get out of the way." a familiar Northern-accented voice ordered, and Rose turned round to see the Doctor and the Artist standing behind her, their weapons aimed at the Dalek. "Rose, get out of the way, now!" the Doctor demanded.
"No!" Rose said, "Cos' I won't let ya do this."
"Don't be stupid, Rose!" the Artist said, "That thing killed hundreds of people today. Not to mention the thousands of Time Lords it killed in the war."
"I'm sorry about them, but it's not the ones currently pointing guns at me." Rose countered.
Neither Time Lord wavered. "We've got to do this." the Doctor said determinedly, "We've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed our people, our homes, we've got nothing left."
Rose's heart went out for them in that moment, but she didn't waver in her determination. "Look at it." she said, and stepped aside to let them see the mutant.
"What's it doing?" a confused Doctor frowned.
"It's the sunlight, that's all it wants." Rose said.
"But it can't..." the Doctor muttered, slowly lowering his weapon.
"It's a trick." the Artist growled, maintaining her aim, "Daleks don't care about sunlight. All they care about is killing!"
"It couldn't kill Van Statten, it couldn't kill me." Rose said, "It's changing. What about you, Artist, what the hell are you changing into?" She was surprised to see the Artist so determined to kill. So far, the Artist had seemed to be the more sensible, compassionate and level-headed one, yet she seemed like a total stranger right now.
Shakily, the Artist lowered her weapon. "Oh, Rose, the Daleks took everything from me." she sighed, close to tears.
"Why do we survive?" the Dalek asked.
"I don't know." the Doctor sighed.
"Guess it's our punishment." the Artist muttered sadly.
"I am the last of the Daleks." the Dalek croaked, it's voice sounding strained now.
"You're not even that." the Doctor said, "Rose did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."
"Into what?"
"Something new. I'm sorry."
"Isn't that better?" Rose asked.
The Doctor shook his head. "Not for a Dalek."
"I can feel so many ideas." the Dalek strained, "So much darkness... Rose... give me orders! Order me to die."
"I can't do that." Rose said.
"This is not life. This is sickness! I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!"
Rose swallowed hard. "Do it." she ordered.
"Are you frightened, Rose Tyler?"
"Yeah."
"So am I." the Dalek said feebly, "Exterminate."
Rose backed up to join the Time Lords as the Dalek sealed it's armour back up. It levitated into the air and the golden orbs on it's casing detached themselves to form a perfect sphere around the Dalek. The Dalek glowed briefly, then imploded into nothing. The Doctor stared numbly at the place where the Dalek had been, while the Artist turned and walked silently away.
"Is she gonna be alright?" Rose asked the Doctor worriedly.
"I hope so." he replied, "The Daleks, they took everything from her, and seeing that one has reopened old wounds."
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They found the Time Lady on floor 53, wandering aimlessly around the museum hall. "I was looking to see if there was anything from home in here." she said, her voice stoic but her eyes betraying her deep sadness, "Nothing. Not even so much as a speck of dirt."
The Doctor took her hand in comfort and they walked over to the TARDIS. "At least we've got this little piece of home." the Doctor sighed, running his other hand over the woodwork, "Better than nothing."
"Is that the end of it, the Time War?" Rose asked.
"We're the only ones left." the Doctor replied solemnly, "We win. How 'bout that?" It felt like an empty victory.
"The Dalek survived, maybe some of your people did too." Rose counselled.
"If there were, we'd know about it." the Artist replied, "We'd be able to sense them. But we can only sense each other. It's just the two of us."
"Well then, good thing I'm not going anywhere." Rose encouraged. The Time Lords both managed brave smiles and the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS.
"Thanks." the Artist said to Rose.
"For what?"
"For stopping us from shooting that Dalek. If we had, then we'd have committed genocide, and we'd have been no better than them."
Rose gave her friend a comforting hug just as Adam jogged up to them. "We'd better get out." he said, "Van Statten's disappeared... they're closing down the base. Goddard says they're gonna fill it up with cement. Like it never existed."
"Good, best thing for it." the Artist said.
"I'll have to go back home." Adam continued.
"Better hurry up then." the Doctor told him briskly, "Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours."
"Adam was saying that all his life he's wanted to see the stars." Rose hinted.
"Tell him to go an' stand outside, then." the Doctor retorted.
"He's all on 'is own, and he did help." Rose persisted.
"Rose, he left you to die down there so he could save himself." the Artist pointed out.
"He didn't mean to." Rose defended.
"What're you all talking about?" Adam interrupted, not sure what was going on, "We've got to leave!"
"Plus, he's a bit pretty." the Doctor remarked, eyeing Adam with disdain.
"I hadn't noticed." Rose said innocently.
"Like hell ya didn't." the Artist snorted.
"On yer own head." the Doctor conceded to Rose, and turned back towards the TARDIS.
"What're you all doing?" Adam asked as the trio disappeared inside the box, "She said, 'cement.' She wasn't joking, we're gonna get sealed in! Doctor? What're you doing hiding inside a box? Rose? Artist?" He peered through the doors and stepped inside, then the TARDIS dematerialised.