Past Lives || Dottore

45

"Where are you planning on going after this?" Y/n broke the silence, her voice causing the doctor a few feet away from her to stop what he was doing. He let out a sigh, setting down the test tube he had in his hands on a nearby table.

"Sumeru, probably. I have a long-term project I need to work on with the Academia there." Dottore stood up, stretching one of his arms. "Why do you ask? You're coming with me, or did you forget?"

She scoffed, looking away from him. "I didn't forget- I was just curious." She turned her attention to the big, pulsing heart at the end of the cavern. He let out a hum in response, picking the test tube back up and swirling it around.

"Does the long-term project have to do with one of those folders I saw on your desk while you were looking for my earring?"

This caught his attention. His body froze and his eyes moved slowly to look at her, the testing tube in his hands forgotten at this point, even though it was beginning to glow a dull pink color.

"Which folder are you talking about?" He asked.

"I think the name on the folder is Shouki no Kami." Y/n nodded. "Yeah, that should be it."

"That is the long-term project, but I thought I had put that in my desk..." He trailed off for a moment. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Whether it was at himself or at the woman a few feet away from him, it was unclear. "Whatever, you've seen it. No point in hiding it any longer."

"Can you tell me the details about it? I looked in the folder, but there wasn't much to go off of. There was an interesting concept sketch though." She walked up to him and took the test tube away from him, the tube glowing a bright pink at this point.

Dottore let out a tired sigh. "I suppose."

"You don't have to tell me now, maybe on the ship over to Sumeru, unless you are planning on walking there." She set the tube down on the table, being careful as to not shatter the glass as soon as it makes contact with the wood.

"Walking there would take too long. Those incompetent people they call researchers are hopeless without my guidance." He scoffed. "They will ruin the project before it even starts. They need me there."

Y/n hummed, writing down the tube results on the paper next to the doctor, making note on how the tubes color began to dull a few seconds after reaching its climax. "What rank are they? These incompetent people- in your terms."

"They are the closest people to the current Grand Sage. That old hag should've kicked the buckets years ago, but he's still alive." He let out a sigh. "But back on the topic of the project, do you remember the name of the 6th harbinger? He wasn't at the ball."

She looked away from the dull pink tube, focusing on the doctor. "Ah, yes, I remember. Scaramouche. You said he was somewhere in Inazuma, right?"

"Yes. Due to personal matters. He might run into Signora there, but I highly doubt it. Scaramouche doesn't really like Signora- he doesn't really like anybody." He let out a chuckle. "I might some factor into that sort of thing."

Y/n's eyes narrowed at him. He took notice of this, but he only smiled, brushing it off before the question was even asked.

"The experiment that is going to be taking place in Sumeru has him as its main focus." He picked up the test tube that now held a black color, all mentions of pink long gone. He took the pencil from her and wrote down the results before sticking it upside down in the snow with some other tubes of the same fate.

She watched him carefully as he started up another tube, making it with similar beginnings but with something he had extracted from the dragon heart a few feet away. The reaction that started to happen didn't turn pink, but instead a deep red. The glow was fierce, almost blinding. It died down as soon as it happened.

He wrote down the results quickly, tossing the tube away. Discarding it as soon as it became useless to him.

"So, the sketches I saw in the folder, is it-?"

"Yes. It is a puppet. A vessel for him to use. Something to serve his pitiful god complex." He rolled his eyes. "The whole experiment was his idea. He originally pitched it to Pierro, but with him and his massive workload -and that fact that he doesn't care about that sort of thing- he shifted the idea to me."

"Really?"

"Yes. The fucking asshole cause the lights and equipment in my lab to short-circuirt so many times-" He sigh, stretching. A few bones in his back popped, earning another sigh. "If the position of 6th harbinger wasn't so damn important, I would've killed him a thousand times over by now."

Y/n rubbed his back lightly. "Did the pre-experiment work?"

Dottore seemed to lean into her touch. "Yes. That is another reason why I didn't kill him. The pre-expreiments helped prep him so that once the puppet is complete, he would be able to control and use it as he deems fit."

"But there is no way that just his power is enough to move such a thing, right? Even if he could, that would be every tiring." She allowed him to rest his head on her shoulder, her hands running through his hair.

He let out a content sound, relaxing at her touch. "The pre-experiments also prepped him for another thing; being the perfect holder for the Electro Gnosis. Once Signora comes back to Snezhnaya with the Gnosis in hand- if he hasn't intercepted her by then, -Scaramouche will absorb it into his body."

"How interesting..." She trailed off, her fingers subconsciously massaging his scalp. "Her Majesty has approved of this?"

"Of course." He hummed. "She technically still has the Gnosis in her grasp at that point, and Scaramouche -given his background- is the only one strong enough to hold the Electro Gnosis safely. He is still a weapon for The Tsaritsa, as we all are."

Y/n looked out the cavern, taking note of a blizzard beginning to form. "We might be stuck in here for a while."

He lifted his head from her shoulder, following her gaze. He let out a sigh. "It looks like break time is over." He untangled himself from her, regrettably stepping away from her warm body. "We aren't done here yet."

She frowned slightly. "Alright."

~

I apologize. This chapter came out later than I had originally planned. Sampo from Honkai: Star Rail has had my attention since the games release. He has me in a chokehold.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the chapter. The next one will come out soon :D