Davros took a deep breath and stepped forward. The ruins of the old fortress were hardly an auspicious place for such a grand occasion but be didn't really care. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

After all those years toiling away in the bunker. After all those conflicts, with the Thals , with his detestable sister and with the closed minded fools in the military, unable to see that his work would be far more useful to the war effort than a billion bombs. Only Nyder understood and for that Davros was about as grateful as he was capable of. If there were more soldiers like Nyder, The War would have been won centuries ago. For that matter if there were more scientists like Nyder instead of bleeding hearts like Ronson, his work would already be long completed.

A voice shook him out of his thoughts. It was Gharman, another foolish follower of supposed morality, although he at least knew when to be silent and obey orders.

"Ready, Davros" said Gharman. Short and to the point. Perhaps he was worried about showing his disgust if he spoke too much.

Davros could not even pretend to hide his glee. "Observe the test closely, my friend. This will be a moment that will live in history" He walked over to the light switch and turned it on, revealing his creation.

Davros had known for a long time that the Kaled race was doomed even if The War were to end in their favour tomorrow. Their genetic structure was too corrupted by the many weapons which had poisoned Skaro. The process was slow but sooner or later they would degenerate into a race of helpless, crippled freaks. The process was unstoppable- provided that the Kaleds remained in their current form.

Davros had been inspired by the cybernetics which had saved him when the Thals had bombed his laboratory. They had been invented not long before then, as a means to preserve those close to death. The average soldier would be a waste of the technology but those individuals deemed vital to the war effort were a different story. Davros, fortunately had been one of those individuals. In truth, despite the pain he found his new limbs much better than his old ones. They were stronger, more versatile and came with defence mechanisms. It led him to wonder about the possibility of replacing all the body's vital organs with machinery. After all, machines were far more efficient. And it would be impossible to mutate without flesh.

His creation stepped towards him, slowly, as if it had just woken up from a deep sleep. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It had the basic shape of a humanoid but even a glancing look would soon tell an observer otherwise. It was a great metal giant, coloured silver. Some might mistake it for a robot but Davros knew better. It had taken many experiments on Thal prisoners and Kaled dissidents before the subject was perfected.

"Halt" commanded Davros and it obeyed without question "turn right. Halt"

It was obedient then. Good. The new race would be entirely pure from the influences which were the bane of both sentient beings. It would be driven only by pure logic and a singular, overwhelming need- to survive at all costs. Was that not, after all the purpose of every life form? He still remembered what that mysterious man had told him as a boy. Survival was just a choice. If you were not prepared to do all that it took to survive, you deserved to die. That knowledge was all that had sustained him as he was forced to endure the agony and the humiliation that had come with the explosion. He knew that there had been many who had disdained him as a pathetic cripple, striding around the bunker on mechanical legs. He knew better. He was crippled in body but they were crippled in mind.

Gharman set up three cardboard targets. Davros took his meaning and nodded.

"Now" he said to his creation " Exterminate!"

His creation raised up his hand, as if it was ordering him to stop. A bolt of blue energy emanated from it's palm and destroyed the first target in a second. The second and third targets took no longer.

"The weaponry is perfect" said Davros " Now we can begin"

He began to work towards the creature. When he reached it, he placed his hand upon it's chest, marvelling at his own genius.

"This shall be our salvation, Gharman" he said " I shall name it - the Cyberman"

Authors Note

The Doctor's comment in The Doctor Falls about how Cybermen are inevitable in humanoid societies inspired me here. If you squint, you could see the Daleks as an example of something similar- after all, they are both cyborgs and in Genesis of the Daleks they had a similar theme about surviving at any cost. I guess this diverges from Canon when Skarosian cybernetics is more developed and so Davros gets a set of artificial limbs instead of a wheelchair. This leads him to create a whole new kind of terror.