Chapter 3 Inside the Rust-Bucket
[SYSTEM: Warning. Dimensional shift detected. Host and companions miniaturized to a sub-molecular level. Recommend immediate adaptation.]
[SYSTEM: Assimilation of Host's Silurian DNA activated. Recommended use: enhanced vision in low light. Recommended use: defensive retreat.]
[Time – Immediately Following – TBD] [Location – Inside a Dalek] [Date – TBD]
The world dissolved into a swirling vortex of color and light. Adam felt his body compress, the sensation akin to being shoved into a tiny glass bottle, his bones and organs and every cell screaming in protest. The roaring of the TARDIS's dematerialization was replaced by the low, groaning hum of a much larger, and much more metallic, machine.
When the world settled, he was standing on a metal catwalk, the air thick with the smell of ozone and burnt wiring. All around him, a labyrinth of pipes and conduits twisted and turned, glowing with a soft, pulsing orange light. Clara was next to him, her eyes wide with fear, and the Doctor was a tiny, furious figure in the distance, his coat flapping behind him as he scurried down a pipe.
"The TARDIS couldn't get a lock!" the Doctor yelled back. "The ship's signal was too strong! It pulled us in! We're inside the Dalek!"
"The rust-bucket?" Adam yelled back, looking around at the impossibly vast space. "Are we tiny?"
"Sub-molecular!" the Doctor confirmed, his voice a strained yell. "This is... brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! A classic! The Living Corridor! The Dalek's immune system! Oh, this is much better than a simple chase!"
Clara, however, was not amused. "Doctor, we are inside a Dalek! The things that exterminate people for fun!"
"I am the ultimate defense!" a mechanical, almost lyrical voice echoed from the walls around them. "I am the heart! The mind! I am... the soul."
"Don't mind him," the Doctor said, a sudden manic grin on his face. "This is a 'good' Dalek. It's been corrupted by the nanogenes, but its core protocols are still in place. We just have to fix it from the inside!"
A new sound, like the chittering of a thousand tiny insects, echoed from the tunnels below. Adam felt a prickle on his skin. He looked down and saw a swarm of tiny, metallic spiders with glowing red eyes scurrying along the pipes.
"Antibodies!" the Doctor yelped, a nervous energy in his voice. "They're defending the corruption! Stay away from them! They'll break us down into constituent parts! Adam, can you use your… your thing to get us out of here?"
No. I have to rely on my wits. No. I can't rely on the System. I'm on my own.
Adam felt the familiar flicker of his Mimic System, but he pushed it down. He couldn't be a liability. The Doctor and Clara were already bickering, their strained relationship a palpable tension in the air.
"This is all your fault!" Clara snapped. "If you hadn't brought us here, we wouldn't be inside a giant, mobile pepper pot!"
"Oh, please," the Doctor retorted, ducking as a spider-like antibody scurried past his head. "I was helping a friend! A new friend! And besides, this is an adventure!"
Adam, surprisingly, felt a sense of calm. He looked at the twisting, glowing pipes, a puzzle laid out before him. The antibodies were moving on a predictable path, following the energy currents in the pipes. He could see their movements, a pattern in the chaos. He used his human wits, not his strange new powers. He found a loose plate on the wall, and with a grunt, he pulled it off. A burst of steam shot out, pushing the antibodies back.
"This way!" he yelled, and he was surprised at the authority in his voice.
[Time – A Few Minutes Later – TBD] [Location – The Dalek's Central Chamber] [Date – TBD]
They slid down a large, glowing cable and landed in a massive, circular chamber. In the center, a huge, pulsating orb of light hummed with power. Around it, lines of code and images flashed. It was the Dalek's central consciousness.
"There it is!" the Doctor said, running towards it. "I just need to reroute the power conduits. Override the nanogene protocols. It'll be a piece of cake!"
But as they approached, the lyrical voice from earlier returned, but it was colder now, and laced with a hint of cruel laughter. "You are too late. The nanogenes are not a virus. They are a broadcast. And I am not a 'good' Dalek. I am a trap."
The orb of light in the center of the room flared, and the lyrical voice was replaced by the harsh, familiar tone of a Dalek.
"EX-TER-MI-NATE!"
The Doctor and Clara froze, horrified. The glowing conduits around the room began to pulse with a furious red light.
Adam felt a psychic warning, a sudden, cold jolt in his mind. The Dalek's consciousness was broadcasting a signal, a high-frequency summons. Not just to the local Daleks, but to all of them.
"It's a trap," Adam said, his voice flat. "It's trying to summon the entire fleet. We have to stop it!"
The Doctor, his face a mask of shock and anger, turned to Adam. "How? I can't reroute the power! It's self-contained! I don't have enough time!"
"You're not going to like this," Adam said, stepping forward. He touched the pulsating core, a sudden, intuitive understanding of its workings. His hands, without his conscious command, began to flicker with the green veins of the crystalline fungus he had mimicked earlier. He wasn't mimicking the Dalek. He was using his copied ability to tap into the energy source, a new, unforeseen application of his powers.
"The fungus," he said, a strained grin on his face. "It's a power source. I can use it to create a feedback loop! Blow the whole thing up from the inside!"
The Doctor's eyes went wide. "That's... insane! You could blow yourself up!"
"So what?" Adam said, his voice a low growl. "Better me than the whole universe."
[SYSTEM: Warning. Host is attempting a highly dangerous maneuver. Probability of success: 5%. Probability of death: 95%. Host, do you wish to proceed?]
The Dalek's voice echoed in the chamber, a cacophony of sound. "YOU WILL BE ABSORBED! YOU WILL BE-..."
"No, thank you," Adam muttered, and with a single, furious shove, he sent a surge of pure, raw energy from the fungus into the Dalek's core.
The chamber lit up with a blinding flash, and a terrible, screaming noise filled the air. The Dalek's voice cut off mid-word, and the core began to crackle and spark, the metallic hum of the machine turning into a frantic, dying shriek.