Fabula

Scientific Division

Colony Scientific Research and Dalek Experimentation

Description

Operates in a human colony on Vulcan, led by Lesterson, and focuses on Dalek technology reactivation. Gains control from Governor Hensell and overrides safety concerns, leading to colonial disaster.

Affiliated Characters

Event Involvements

Events with structured involvement data

3 events
S4E10 · The Power of the Daleks Part 2
Doctor dismisses Ben’s Dalek sighting

Lesterson’s team is the invisible hand guiding the subtext of this event. Though only Resno is implied to be present (watching Ben), the team’s collective actions—particularly Lesterson’s potential tampering with the Daleks—cast a long shadow over the group’s investigation. The team’s involvement is felt in Ben’s accusation ('Lesterson?') and Polly’s follow-up ('But he hadn’t opened the capsule.'), which frame the team as the prime suspects in the mystery of the missing Dalek. The organization’s role is to represent the colony’s scientific establishment, its ambition, and its potential for deception. The team’s actions (or inactions) are the catalyst for the group’s fracturing trust, as the Doctor and companions begin to question who they can rely on.

Active Representation

Via implied actions (tampering with the Daleks) and the watchful presence of Resno, a team member acting as a silent observer.

Power Dynamics

Exercising indirect influence over the group’s actions; the team’s potential complicity in moving the Dalek gives them leverage, even if they’re not physically present. The group’s growing distrust of the team shifts the power dynamic, as the Doctor and companions are now on the defensive, questioning their own perceptions.

Institutional Impact

The team’s actions (or suspected actions) are eroding the group’s cohesion, making it easier for the Daleks to regain power unnoticed. Their influence is a force of division, undermining the very unity the group needs to survive.

Internal Dynamics

Tension between scientific ambition (Lesterson’s drive) and caution (Resno’s warnings). The team is fractured internally, with some members (like Resno) clearly uneasy about the risks they’re taking.

Organizational Goals
To protect the secrecy of their experiments with the Daleks To maintain control over the capsule and its contents, even if it means deceiving the Doctor and companions
Influence Mechanisms
Through Resno’s silent observation (gathering intelligence on the group’s actions) By creating doubt and division among the Doctor’s companions (e.g., the Doctor’s dismissal of Ben’s claim) By controlling access to tools and information (e.g., the lamp, the lab’s resources)
S4E10 · The Power of the Daleks Part 2
The Missing Dalek Reveals Lesterson’s Suspicion

Lesterson’s team is indirectly but critically involved in this event, as their actions—or inactions—are the subject of the group’s suspicions. Ben’s accusation that ‘Lesterson?’ moved the missing Dalek implicates the team in the tampering, even if they are not physically present. Resno’s unnoticed observation of Ben retrieving the lamp suggests that the team is aware of the group’s investigation, even if they choose not to intervene. The team’s role in this event is to embody the colonial scientific faction, where ambition and secrecy drive their experiments with the Daleks. Their involvement raises questions about their loyalty and competence, as the group grapples with the implications of sabotage.

Active Representation

Via the actions of Resno (watching Ben) and the implied actions of Lesterson (suspected of moving the Dalek). The team is represented through their absence and the traces they leave behind, such as the lamp and the missing Dalek.

Power Dynamics

Under challenge by the group’s suspicions. The team’s authority is being questioned, and their actions are now under scrutiny. Their power lies in their scientific expertise, but that expertise is now a liability, as it may have led to the very danger they sought to control.

Institutional Impact

The team’s actions—or lack thereof—have direct implications for the colony’s survival. Their experiments with the Daleks could either save the colony or doom it, and their secrecy is now a major point of contention. The group’s suspicions force the team into a defensive position, where their motives and competence are called into question.

Internal Dynamics

Tension between loyalty to Lesterson’s leadership and the growing evidence of danger. Resno’s silence suggests internal conflict, as he may be aware of the risks but chooses not to challenge his superior. The team’s unity is fragile, and their actions could either unite them or tear them apart.

Organizational Goals
Protect their experiments and scientific reputation, even if it means withholding information from the group. Avoid being exposed as the ones who tampered with the Daleks, which could lead to their downfall and the colony’s destruction.
Influence Mechanisms
Through scientific authority and expertise, which grants them control over the Dalek experiments. Through secrecy and misdirection, as they may be hiding critical information from the group and the colony’s leaders. Through their access to tools and resources, such as the lamp, which becomes a critical part of the investigation.
S4E11 · The Power of the Daleks Part 3
Hensell grants Lesterson absolute Dalek control

The Scientific Division, led by Lesterson, is the catalyst for the colony’s downfall in this scene. Its involvement is embodied in Lesterson’s defiance of the Doctor’s warnings and his securing of unchecked authority over the Daleks. The division’s experiments are framed as a scientific endeavor, but its true role is to serve as the Daleks’ unwitting enablers. The division’s influence is exerted through Lesterson’s confidence and his manipulation of the colony’s leadership, ensuring the Daleks’ reactivation proceeds without interference.

Active Representation

Through Lesterson’s direct actions and his collaboration with Hensell and Bragen. The division’s authority is extended via Lesterson’s *carte blanche*, granting it control over the colony’s most dangerous asset.

Power Dynamics

Operating with absolute authority over the Daleks, but under the misguided belief that they can be controlled. The division’s power is derived from the colony’s trust in science, which is now being weaponized against them.

Institutional Impact

The division’s actions in this scene ensure the Daleks’ reactivation and the colony’s destruction. Its blind ambition reflects a broader institutional flaw: the prioritization of scientific progress over ethical caution.

Internal Dynamics

Lesterson’s obsession with the Daleks drives the division’s actions, but his team (e.g., Janley) may harbor doubts or hidden agendas. The division operates as a unified force in this moment, though internal tensions may emerge as the Daleks’ true nature is revealed.

Organizational Goals
To prove the Daleks’ intelligence can be harnessed for the colony’s benefit To secure unchecked authority to continue experiments, regardless of the Doctor’s warnings
Influence Mechanisms
Scientific authority and expertise (e.g., Lesterson’s confidence in his theories) Political alliances (e.g., collaboration with Hensell and Bragen) Manipulation of the colony’s resources (e.g., the power cable, the laboratory guard)