After 257 failed test subjects, Dottore attempts to find somebody stronger, more fitting for his experiment. That 'somebody' turned out to be Aether. Thus, the abduction began for this mad scientist's research to continue. On what he's doing and how...
Thank you for the first vote! I didn't expect this horrific writing to catch a few people's attention when I started, really!
This chapter will be a bit shorter, though. I apologize for that. I'm still trying to process my ideas for this story.
In addition to that, this chapter has been quite a mess so far. I'm personally quite disappointed with myself. However, the story must go on. Plus, I feel bad for keeping you guys waiting too. Hopefully, I'll get back on track next chapter and return with the goals I set for myself!
Update: Edited the ending. Fixed a few minor grammatical errors.
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Childe's POV:
"Welcome to Northland Bank. Oh! Childe! I mean- Boss. How may I be of service?" the lady on the counter said.
"Not here for nothing much," I replied, "I simply request some information."
"What information do you need, boss?" she asked, holding a pack of files in her hand. She was ready to inform the Harbinger of anything he was about to ask right away.
"About Dottore, do you have any information on what he is doing?"
"Yes, please give me a moment, boss." the lady said, then mumbled, "let's see. Yes, here it is." "Dottore is currently in his research lab in Inazuma, boss."
"What is he doing there?"
"I must apologize, boss. I do not know about that. Although it is indeed odd for Dottore to be there, knowing his usual lab is at Snezhnaya, I did hear about abducting the Traveler..."
My eyes widened. Bullseye.
"...it is said to have occurred last night. Dottore didn't have enough time to get back to the mainland. As a result, he is currently making use of the..."
...
Third POV:
Back at Liuli Pavilion, Paimon had been stirring her drink for a while. Her face was lying on the table, her eyes locked on the bubbles inside the glass. It was out of the ordinary for somebody who would scream in joy whenever she saw a delicious banquet, patiently waiting for devouring to do this. Zhongli noticed this change, however, and he placed down his cup of tea before glancing at the Traveler's floating companion.
"I understand your concern, Paimon."
Paimon looked up for a few seconds, speechless, before focusing on the drink again.
"..."
Zhongli sighed. He knew nothing could boost her spirit right now.
The entire room stayed in awkward silence for another 10 minutes. That was until the ginger-haired man marched in, breaking the tension.
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"I have news," the Harbinger announced.
Paimon lifted her head immediately, "WHERE?! WHERE IS HE?!"
"Ok, calm down. I'll explain everything."
...
"I see," Zhongli said, crossing his arms together.
"So Aether is still in Inazuma?" Paimon asked, "and Dottore's the one who kidnapped him?"
Childe nodded.
"But where in Inazuma specifically?" Zhongli asked.
"Back when the Vision Hunt Decree was still around, the Fatui built a temporary factory in Yashiori Island to create Delusions."
"You mean the one that harmed the Resistance's troops?" Paimon said seriously. The Teppei tragedy still stuck in her head, and she did not wish to mention it ever again.
"Exactly. Although the factory isn't used for its original purpose anymore, the Fatui still preserved the place, giving the perfect opportunity for Dottore to revamp it. All he needed to do was bring his possessions there and request a few changes before he could officially operate it as a lab."
"So, all we need to do is go there and assist the Traveler in breaking out," Zhongli said.
"Well, that would be a simplified way to say it."
"Huh?" Paimon questioned.
"If it was under any others' commands, I'm sure he'd have escaped by now. Even though Dottore is not known for his physical strength, he is still a dangerous man. If you want to come back in one piece, you must proceed with all matters related to him with caution."
"In that case, we only have two choices," Zhongli said, "One, we could stealthily go in and go out. Two, we gather all our strengths and fight him in combat. Either way, it still possesses a great risk."
"Exactly. And to make things worse, I could not interfere with this directly, for obvious reasons. It leaves Paimon and everyone else that is willing to help."
"I'm in," Zhongli declared as he stood up from his chair, "Aether had helped a lot in the Osial plan. It is only reasonable for me to repay his efforts."
Paimon smiled for the first time that day, "Then let's set off and get more help!"
Dottore's POV:
"No. No. No. No. Ugh. All of these ideas are garbage."
I sat on my desk with my right arm supporting my head. The Traveler was the first test subject to succeed in Test 1. Consequently, I hadn't thought about the second test yet.
"UGH! WAS IT NOT SAFE?! BULLSHIT!"
I pushed everything off the desk once again out of frustration.
"WHAT DOES HE WANT?!" I shouted, "ALL PREVIOUS TEST SUBJECTS BARELY FELT ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE PAIN IN INJECTION! SURELY IT WAS SAFE! THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS THAT THEY ALL DIED IN THE FIRST TEST! OH, WAIT UNTIL I MAKE THE INJECTION STRONGER! EVEN THE GODS WOULD FEAR US!"
"Mad again, sir?" Barnabas chuckled.
"HEY! CUT IT WITH THE LAUGH! I'D MAKE SURE YOU'LL BE MY NEXT TEST SUBJECT IF YOU CONTINUE!"
"Calm down now. The answer doesn't always have to appear in front of your eyes. It takes time."
"UGH. NOT YOU TOO!"
Barnabas smiled, then headed outside.
I grabbed everything back onto the table, then tapped my pen repeatedly onto the surface of the desk. On the paper below me wrote:
