We splosh into liquid gunk.
"Urgh. What is this stuff?" Clara asks.
"People. The Daleks need protein. Occasionally, they harvest from their victims. This is a feeding tube" I say.
"Is Ross here?" Journey asks.
"Yeah. Top layer, if you want to say a few words" the Doctor says, Journey pushes the Doctor against the wall.
"A man has just died. You will not talk like that."
"A lot of people have died. Everything in here is dead, and do you know why that's good?
"There is nothing good about that."
"Nothing is alive in here, so logically this is the weakest spot in the Dalek's internal security. Nobody guards the dead. Mortuaries and larders, always the easiest to break out of. Oh, I've lived a life Tell Uncle Stupid that we're in. Ah ha! A bolt hole" the Doctor unscrews the large bolt with his sonic screwdriver, I walk over helping him.
"They'll get us out of here. The difficult part is not killing them before they can" Clara says.
"Bolt hole. Actually, a hole for a bolt. Does nobody get that?" the Doctor asks.
"Also, there's the puns."
"Watch it, decontamination tubes are hot" I say.
*Time skip*
"Are you all right back there? It's a bit narrow, isn't it?" the Doctor asks.
"Any remarks about my hips will not be appreciated," Clara says from behind me.
"Your hips are fine. You're built like a man" the Doctor replies.
"Thanks..." the Doctor helps Clara down from the tube with the help of me.
"What's that noise? Are you wearing a Geiger counter?" the Doctor asks.
"Standard battle equipment. That's just low-level radiation" there are large printed circuit boards.
"But stronger down here, for some reason. Gimme" I say, I start to sweep the circuit boards with the Geiger counter "I've got it. I know what's wrong with Rusty."
"Ok, that's good. Is that good?" Clara asks.
"Well, you know how I said this was the most dangerous place in the universe? I was wrong. It's way more dangerous than that" the Doctor says looking over my shoulder.
"Old Rusty here is suffering a trionic radiation leak" I say "It's poisoning the Dalek and us. Just as well we're here."
"Really? Perhaps we should get out while we can. Why should we trust a Dalek? Why would it change?" Journey asks.
"Good question. Rusty? What changed you?" the Doctor asks.
"I saw beauty."
"You saw what?"
"In the silence and the cold, I saw worlds burning."
"That's not beauty, that's destruction" Journey says.
"I saw more."
"What? What did you see?" the Doctor asks.
"The birth of a star."
"Stars are born every day. You've seen a million stars born. So, what?"
"Daleks have destroyed a million stars."
"Oh, millions and millions. Trust me, I keep count" I say.
"And yet, new stars are born."
"Every time," the Doctor says.
"Resistance is futile."
"Resistance to what?"
"Life returns. Life prevails. Resistance is futile."
"So, you saw a star being born, and you learned something. Oh, Dalek, do not be lying to me. Come on."
*Time skip*
"We're at the heart of the Dalek" I say.
"It's incredible," Clara says as energy arcs above them.
"Geiger counter's off the scale. Looks like it's about to blow" Journey says.
"Good," the Doctor says.
"How is that good?" Journey asks.
"Well, I like a bit of pressure. Rusty, can you hear me?" the Doctor asks.
"Doctor?"
"Rusty, we've found the damage. I'm sealing up the breach in your power cell" the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver as a welder "no more radiation poisoning. Good as new. There. Job done."
"That's it? Just like that?" Clara asks.
"An anti-climax once in a while is good for my hearts. Rusty? How do you feel? Rusty? Rusty? Rusty" the Doctor says.
"The malfunction is corrected."
"What's happened?" Journey asks.
"Not entirely sure" lights come on.
"It's like it's waking up."
"Rusty, come on, talk to me. What's going on?"
"The malfunction is corrected. All systems are functioning. Weapons charged."
"Oh, no, no, no."
"Exterminate. Exterminate" Rusty kills the man keeping watch through the window in his cell door, Rusty breaks free and the alarm sounds.
"No, no, no" the Doctor mutters.
"Exterminate. Exterminate" everyone is thrown about as Rusty moves "the Daleks will be victorious the rebels will be exterminated."
"Colonel? What's happening out there?" Journey asks.
"Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate" Rusty plugs into a console with his plunger arm.
"Dalek fleet. Communications open."
"Seer, Doctor, what happened?" Clara asks.
"Do you see?" I ask.
"Do I see what?"
"Daleks don't turn good. It was just radiation affecting its brain chemistry, nothing more than that. No miracle."
"Let me get this straight. We had a good Dalek, and we made it bad again? That's all we've done?" Journey asks.
"There was never a good Dalek. There was a broken Dalek and we repaired it" the Doctor says.
"You were supposed to be helping us."
"I gave it a shot. It didn't work out. It was a Dalek, what did you expect?"
"No more talking. You are done! Ok, new objective. We are taking this Dalek down."
"Exterminate. Exterminate."
"What's that look for?" the Doctor asks looking at Clara.
"It's the look you get when I'm about to slap you" she slaps him hard.
"Ow. Clara."
"Are we going to die in here? I mean, there's a little bit of you that's pleased. The Daleks are evil after all. Everything makes sense. The Doctor is right" Clara says.
"Daleks are evil. Irreversibly so. That's what we just learned."
"No, Doctor, that is not what we just learned."
"We need to place these charges for maximum effect. I'm going to scan the rest of the architecture for weaknesses" Journey says.
"One question," Clara says.
"No time."
"Why did we come here today? What was the point? You. You two thought there was a good Dalek. What difference would one good Dalek make?" Clara asks.
"All the difference in the universe, but it's impossible" I say.
"Is that a fact? Is that really what we've learned today? Think about it. Is that what we've learned?
"Journey, what the hell's happening? That thing's set the Daleks on us and it's locked us out of our defences. Journey, you're the Aristotle's only hope. I need you to destroy that Dalek."
"The rebels will be exterminated."
"Whatever it takes."
"Understood, Uncle."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah. Me too."
"Clara Oswald, do we really not pay you?" the Doctor asks.
"You couldn't afford me."
"Whatever you're going to do, don't do it this Dalek must not be destroyed. We can do better" I say.
"Are you out of your mind?" Journey asks.
"No, I'm inside a Dalek. We're standing where we've never been. We cannot waste this chance. It won't come again" I say.
"What chance? I have my orders."
"Soldiers take orders."
"And I'm a soldier."
"A Dalek is a better soldier than you will ever be. You can't win this way" Journey holds up a grenade to pull the pin, then puts it down again.
"So, what do we do?"
"Something better."
*Time skip*
"The Dalek isn't just some angry blob in a Dalekanium tank. If it was, the radiation would have turned it into a raging lunatic" I say.
"It is a raging lunatic, it's a Dalek," Journey says.
"But for a moment, it wasn't. The radiation allowed it to expand its consciousness, to consider things beyond its natural terms of reference. It became good. That means a good Dalek is possible. That's what we learned today. Am I right, teach?" the Doctor asks.
"Top of the class" Clara replies.
"But now it's back to how it was," Journey says.
"But what it saw, what it felt, is still there" I say.
"Yeah, I'm not really seeing that."
"Not here. There" the Doctor points upwards.
"You mean in the cortex vault?"
"The evil engineering?" Clara asks.
"Every memory recorded. Some suppressed, but all still intact. We need to show the Dalek that star being born again. Recreate that moment. You need to get up there, find that moment and reawaken it" the Doctor says.
"Me?" Clara asks.
"Yes, you. Good idea."
"How?"
"Haven't the foggiest. Do a clever thing. And then once you've done it, the Dalek will be suggestible to new ideas. It will be open again. And I will show it something that will change its mind forever."
"What?" Journey asks.
"Not a clue."
*Time skip*
"This is crazy. There is no way that we can get back up there in time" Journey says.
"Yes, there is."
"No, Gretchen. It'll bring the antibodies back down on us."
"Tell me the truth. Are they mad, or are they right? I've come this far. Probably going to die anyway. Wouldn't mind something to do for the rest of my life. Are they mad, or are they right?"
"Hand on my heart? Most days their both" Clara says.
"One question, then. Is this worth it?"
"If we can turn one Dalek, we can turn them all. We can save the future" the Doctor says.
"Gretchen Alison Carlisle. Do something good and name it after me."
"We will do something amazing, I promise" I reply.
"Damn well better" Gretchen primes her harpoon.
"No, Gretchen" Journey says, Gretchen fires two wires up to the cranial ledge.
"Go" the antibodies approach.
"They're coming. They're coming" Clara says, Journey fastens a pulley onto the zip wire.
"Grab hold of the rope. Don't look down."
"Good luck" Journey and Clara fly upwards. The Doctor and I leave.
*Time skip*
"Well, Rusty, here we are. Eye to eye" the Doctor says.
"You cannot save the humans. They will be exterminated. I shall join the Dalek units in the final attack."
"I saved your life, Rusty. Now I'm going to go one better. I'm going to save your soul."
"Daleks do not have souls."
"Oh, no? Imagine if you did. What then, Rusty? What would happen then?" I ask, the Doctor sees the flash travel down neurones to Rusty "your memories. We're about to give some back to you. See, all those years ago, when we began..." the Doctor is using his sonic screwdriver to cut through the flexible tubing covering a set of neurones, then pulls them apart "we were just running. We called ourselves the Doctor and the Seer, but they were just names. And then we went to Skaro. And then we met you lot and we understood who we were. The Doctor and the Seer were not the Daleks" impulses flow down the cables to Rusty.
"Oh, look. It's your memories again. It's like somebody's mucking about up there. Memories, all those memories. Do you remember the star you saw being born?" the Doctor asks, the last set of lights come on, and Rusty's eyepiece goes dark.
"I, I remember."
"You saw the truth, Rusty. Remember how you felt. You saw a star being born. The endless rebirth of the universe."
"No."
"And you realised the truth about the Daleks" Rusty is spinning around.
"Truth? What is the truth?"
"Let me show you the truth. I've opened your mind and now I'm coming in" the Doctor says he splices the two pieces of cut neurone together with his bare hands and screams as the energy surges through his body "I'm part of you. My mind is in your mind."
"I see your mind, Doctor. I see your universe.
"And isn't the universe beautiful?"
"I see beauty."
"Yes, that's good. That is good. Hold on to that."
"I see endless, divine perfection."
"Make it a part of you. Remember how you feel right now. Put it inside you and live by it."
"I see into your soul, Doctor. I see beauty. I see divinity. I see hatred."
"Hatred?"
"I see your hatred of the Daleks and it is good" behind the Doctor and I, the Crucible explodes.
"No, no, no. You must see more than that, there must be more than that."
"Death to the Daleks. Death to the Daleks. Death to the Daleks."
"No, there must be more than that. There must be more than that. Please."
"Daleks are evil. Daleks must be exterminated. Daleks are evil. Daleks must be exterminated. Exterminate. The Daleks are exterminated."
"Of course, they are. That's what you do, isn't it?"
*Time skip*
Everyone has left Rusty and are normal size again.
"Journey."
"Uncle Morgan."
"I have transmitted a retreat signal. The Daleks will believe the humans have initiated the ships self-destruct" Journey briefly hugs Morgan.
"What about you, Rusty?" Clara asks.
"I must go with them."
"Of course, you must. You've unfinished work, haven't you?" I ask.
"Victory is yours, but it does not please you."
"You looked inside me and you saw hatred. That's not victory. Victory would have been a good Dalek" the Doctor replies.
"I am not a good Dalek. You are a good Dalek" Rusty turns to leave, then looks back at the Doctor and I.
"Till the next time" I smile, the Doctor and I walk off.
"Are they leaving? Aren't they going to say goodbye?"
"I think that was it. Yep, that was it. Sorry, got to run" Clara says running after the two, Rusty leaves.
"I'm sorry" Journey kisses Morgan on the cheek and follows Clara.
"Sorry?"
"Doctor, Seer. Take me with you" Journey says.
"I think you're probably nice. Underneath it all, I think your kind and you're definitely brave. I just wish you hadn't been a soldier" the Doctor says, as he and I go into the TARDIS Clara follows.
*TARDIS*
Clara runs up the stairs in new clothes. The TARDIS is in flight.
"How do I look?" Clara asks.
"Sort of short and round-ish, but with a good personality, which is the main thing" the Doctor says.
"I meant my clothes. I just changed."
"Oh, good for you, still making an effort."
"You look lovely, Clara" I reply, the TARDIS lands.
"Ok, right, you're back in your cupboard, thirty seconds after you left," the Doctor says.
"When will I see you two again?"
"Oh. Soon, we expect. Or later. One of those" I shrug, Clara opens the door.
"I don't know."
"I'm sorry?"
"You asked me if you two were good and the answer is, I don't know. But I think you try to be and I think that's probably the point."
"I think you're probably an amazing teacher."
"I think I'd better be" Clara leaves.