**POV - ■■■■■■**
The surprised looks from the Silurians make me smile inwardly. They seem to have momentarily forgotten the situation we were in, absorbed by the information about our age.
"I know, I know, we look very young," I say with a cheerful smile. "But you should see some of our professors. They are centuries old and still seem to be in the prime of their youth."
Lastra quickly composes herself, her gaze assessing. "Age isn't everything, of course, but it does show that your race has greater longevity than the Silurians."
"Yes, a Time Lord can live for over 500 years without regenerating," I say, not realizing I've revealed information I shouldn't have.
"Regenerating?" Lastra asks.
"Oh, nothing, just a way of saying it among our people," I reply, making up an excuse.
"Okay, if you really are capable of developing technology that can neutralize the Cybermen, we don't have time to waste," Lastra says urgently.
The scientist in the lab coat still seems skeptical, but Lastra doesn't give him a chance to question further. "Start immediately. You have access to all our resources. If you need anything, ask. But remember," she leans a little closer to us, "we are watching you."
"Understood, Lady," I reply with a nod.
Lastra smiles at the title coming from me. 'It seems she's letting her guard down with us,' I turn to Graiger and say, "Interesting, we've barely spent 10 hours on this planet, and we already have to develop weapons for primitive people."
Lastra loses the smile on her face and looks at me with dagger-like eyes. "Oh, sorry," I say, correcting myself.
Graiger and I head to a table filled with devices of various shapes and sizes. I analyze what we have at our disposal: primitive electronic parts with potential and some high-density materials. "Do you have any uranium or plutonium? We could make an atomic bomb; it would be easier to just blow them up... No, forget what I said, it needs a lot of protection."
"What is uranium, plutonium, or an atomic bomb?" the man in the lab coat questions.
"Hard to work with this; it will take at least 8 days to create something that works," Graiger says with annoyance.
"Do you have any Cybermen so we can see what their technology is like?" I ask.
"Yes, we do, but they are extremely protected for testing and to avoid endangering our soldiers," the man says.
"I'll bring one here," Lastra says. "But we have something that was found in one of the bases we invaded and destroyed," she says, gesturing for the man in the lab coat to show it.
I look and am impressed. 'Ah, this is interesting. A fragment of rare metal, almost like Dalekanium, but less refined than what the Daleks use.'
"This might do; we've seen a similar material," Graiger says, getting excited, seeing that we don't have to work only with primitive metals.
Ten minutes later, five soldiers arrive, bringing a Cyber-Silurian almost intact if it weren't for the tiny hole in its head.
'Whoever had this precision with these weapons must be extremely good at aiming,' I think, looking at the Cyberman.
Graiger and I begin to see if these Cybermen have the same kind of technology as that Castellan Rosger keeps on Gallifrey for testing in case a war happens with some legion of Cybermen.
"Seems identical. Ross, we could try replicating some of the technology," I say to Graiger.
"If we can use this metal to create some kind of interference field, we might be able to overload the Cybermen's systems. Or, if we want to be more ambitious, we could try to create an electromagnetic pulse wave that not only disrupts their communications but also disables the Cybermen themselves," Graiger says.
"I was thinking the same. And if we use that accumulated energy to power a relocation circuit? It could force the Cybermen to lose control of their units, maybe even cause some kind of short circuit," I say, excited by the prospect.
Graiger speaks enthusiastically, "Yes, and if we apply a frequency modulator, we can adjust the interference field to affect only Cybermen technology, leaving the Silurians unharmed."
Lastra watches with interest as we discuss and begin to work. "How long will this take to be ready? We don't have much time," Lastra asks with some anxiety.
"Maybe 6 to 7 days at most," Graiger says.
"So fast?!" the man in the lab coat raises his voice. "I thought it would take months."
"I think it's pretty slow. These Cybermen are quite primitive compared to the ones we've seen, and you have some pretty bad stuff, but it can be used," I say, picking up some technology that was on the table.
Lastra looks at me, impressed and somewhat annoyed since I keep saying they are primitive.
"Okay, you do that, and I'll be closely monitoring with our scientists to make sure there's no danger of you betraying us," Lastra says with a calm look.
"Okay, let's start, Ross. Maybe we'll finish earlier, or our people will rescue us before then," I say, excited about the challenge.
"Yes, how long will it take for them to come? I hope it doesn't take months; I want my room already," Graiger says, picking up a piece of metal from the table.
As we assemble the first parts, I see the cautious looks from the Silurians, skeptical of what two boys, older than they seemed, could do.
**-------------POV CHANGE----------**
**POV - LASTRA**
It's been 10 hours since the two began assembling a strange device.
'They are interesting, they seem like geniuses. Ross is quiet, and Braz is extremely sarcastic about my threats,' I think, remembering that they didn't take it very seriously. 'They probably just want to have fun since, from what they said, they are still children among their people, and yet they offered to make weapons for a people they don't even know.'
"So, what is your planet like?" I ask, trying to get closer to them.
"Beautiful, probably three times larger than this one and with two stars in the sky," Braz says as he starts to press something on the device they're creating.
"Two stars? How? Don't they go into gravitational collapse?" Gristrax, the scientist in the white lab coat, asks.
"No, our people control their movements to avoid risks and problems with our planet's gravity," this time, it's Ross who answers as he picks up a metal plate and places it on the device.
"Control!? How does anyone control a star?" Gristrax asks in astonishment.
"Okay, let's test it," Braz gets up, ignoring Gristrax's question, and calls everyone's attention.
'Should I bring another Cyberman?' I think, excited to see if this device will work. 'They could be the salvation of our race in this war.'
---------**POV CHANGE**----------
**POV - ■■■■■**
After a few hours, we managed to assemble a rudimentary prototype. The tension in the room is palpable as everyone watches our progress. I hold the device and look at Lastra.
"Ready for the test?" I ask with a tone of confidence.
Lastra nods, signaling one of the soldiers to bring a captured Cyberman they had in captivity. When the Cyberman is placed in the room, inactive but still potentially dangerous, I activate the device.
An almost imperceptible energy wave spreads through the air. For a moment, nothing happens. Then, suddenly, the Cyberman starts emitting a high-pitched sound, as if its circuits were being forced beyond capacity. A second later, its lights go out, and it falls to the ground, inert.
The room falls silent.
"This is... this is incredible," the scientist in the lab coat, whom Lastra called Gristrax, finally admits, almost in shock.
==========
**Author's Note:** Is the construction time reasonable? I thought about the Doctor's level of intelligence; if he wanted to, he could create something by analyzing a Cyberman to neutralize its circuits. So with two geniuses at the Doctor's level, they could probably do it much faster.
**Author's Note:** Probably another 6 to 8 chapters and this arc is over, and we return to the Academy.