The test tube swirled in the perfect colour combination. Black to red to blue. The experiment had been a success. This was long overdue and partially my fault for not using the correct slime condensate specifically from pesky dendro slimes. I was still internally celebrating my triumph when the lab shook violently before the door was rudely barged through and destroyed in the process.
The test tube lurched out of my hand, smashing and leaking the contents in the process. Well there goes all my hard work. Its not everyday my lab is intercepted this way. I steeled myself for whomever would grace my presence although I had a pretty good idea of who it might be.
My knives had already been summoned. They were held tight in my hand and sizzling with Electro energy. They were certainly later than I anticipated but once again my theory had been proven correct. Its a shame this time I was hoping it wouldn't.
A single figure strolled in, completely ignoring the mess he had made of my lab.
"Now now, Doc. No need to have such a look on your face. Lets talk it out before we get heavy with the weapons yes?" An uncommon voice spoke.
No other man would be able to find this lab and no other man would do what he would to get his hands on my creation. There was no talking to be done. This was out of the question.
"You mean like how you politely asked to be allowed in? Right, of course! Please, by all means, talk away," I spat.
I was stalling. It was obvious to anyone. Truth be told, whilst I knew how to handle myself in combat, this man was a Fatui Harbinger. I didn't stand a chance especially because my expertise lay in science and numbers. He probably knew this just as well as I did. A smirk formed on his face but only half of it was visible due to his choice to wear such an irregular mask. The mask only covered half of his face, leaving an opening for one side of his mouth and his red eyes that gleamed like rubies. He was enjoying himself. Its about time I reigned on his parade with bad news.
"Hand it over Doc. You know what i'm here for. We can do this the easy way, and no one gets hurt. I know your smart, so be smart about it."
The smirk had dropped from his face in an instant. Disgust tainted his features and his playful demeanor had long since disappeared. So he liked to toy with people? I wasnt sure if that was the case just yet but his actions and mannerisms were all over the place. He would be a tough one to predict.
"I can't do that I'm afraid Dottore. To hand over an originally crafted field tiller core to the Fatui could lead to disaster and I'm not sure I'd like to be the cause of that. Unfortunately we might have to do this the hard way."
He sighed, exasperated. Shutting his eyes tightly for a second to rid himself of the oncoming headache, he flicked his fingers once.
The shadows warped and a handful of Fatui Agents slipped through, surrounding me in my own lab. That wasn't the worst part. Andreas was with them. Not exactly with them, more like held against his will with them. He looked beat up, cuts and bruises decorated his skin and red rimmed eyes suggested the type of pain he'd experienced. Evidently he was tortured into giving them the location of this place, after all he was supposed to be my trusty assistant. I suppose giving him a holiday might not have been the best idea.
Dottore motioned for the Agent to bring Andreas forward. My grip on the double knives tightened. I had absolutely no idea what I would do. Andreas did in fact know where I hid the field tiller core I'd created myself whilst trying to recreate Khaenrian technology. But if they knew that, they wouldnt have bothered asking me. Which means he held his tongue. My heart beat a little faster at the thought of it.
"You two are well acquainted with each other, no? How about this then Doc, you tell me where I can find the core, and little Andreas here runs free. Hm?" Dottore suggested it whilst mussing up Andreas' hair.
Andreas shut his eyes tight at the fear of being hurt any more. My heart constricted. Once his eyes were open, I was looking into them. A silent conversation passed between us as he nodded with a small sense of pride. A past memory between the two of us flashed before me.
"Dr L/N, as long as I am working on this project, I want you to know that if anything were to compromise it, I would lay down my life for it without a second thought," he had said out of the blue on the day we had gathered all the ingredients needed.
Back in the present, I understood what the nod signified. I made no show of responding, only turning to face the monstrous Harbinger.
"Oh? What an unexpected turn of events..." He smiled, showcasing a set of sharp teeth. "Do it."
A blade was slashed against his neck, and I suppose I should be thankful it was painless and quick. We were never close, we knew where our priorities lied. Our lives were dedicated to our occupations and whilst I knew he did have a family I never cared to ask to which he seemed completely fine with. Now that he was gone, I was the only one left. Which means they would have a hell of a time trying to get the answers out of me.
"Your turn!" Dottore smiled at me.
My Electro vision fizzled as the Agents made their move towards me. At this point, my care for the state of the lab was little to nothing. If I got out of this predicament alive, I'd have to relocate anyway.
I teleported from place to place, appearing behind and above the Agents. None anticipated my skill in combat and one by one they crumpled to the ground from the shock I sent them that paralysed their neurones temporarily.
My final target stood at the door, looking perplexed by my sudden burst of power.
"Useless idiots! All of you!" He yelled at the bodies littered around the lab. He groaned before laying his eyes upon me. "You're more interesting than I first anticipated. These worthless bastards have never once exceeded my expectations of them being utter disappointments."
"You didn't really expect me to just hand it over to you, did you? I mean, you can't even come in person. Are you truly so cowardly?"
He faltered. He tensed. His eyes slowly bore into mine as he lulled over what I just said.
"Excuse me?" His tone was venomously low. An edge of bloodlust was present.
Despite his threatening tone, I couldn't be stopped.
"You are nothing but a clone of the original. That says a lot about the prime Dottore."
"And how, pray tell, did you come to that conclusion?" His emotions were completely concealed.
"You are not breathing, your chest not moving. Not to mention the line on your neck that displays the assembled parts of your body."
He smirked. "Not many can discern the original from the clone. Even my own colleagues can't tell if it's truly me. You have now given me no choice."
I tensed. My fighting stance was back in motion. I pushed my legs to move as fast as possible. I could not give him a second of advantage. I had been exhausted already from the previous situation. He made no moves. This should've been unusual, however my thoughts were trained only to escape this lab. Just as I came within centimetres of him, the sound of clinking metal echoed around me.
It happened too fast. A chain. It slithered out from his sleeves and moved like a snake. Other chains followed. It lurched for my feet first, wrapping around tightly till I could feel the shape of the chains grooving into my leg. My legs were out of action so I resorted to using my knives. My vision would only conduct on the cold metal and hurt me back. It was out of the question.
Just as my hands prepared to throw the knives, they were stilled by a strong force. The knives tumbled out of my grip as that familiar cold metal squeezed my wrists with the strong force. I cried out. My limbs were completely constricted and I was trapped.
The last thing I felt was a chain cozy up around my throat, and the all I saw was Dottore barking out a laugh at my "pathetic" escape attempt. My body was thrown back, where my head slammed into the back wall. Hard. I hoped that wasn't a crack I heard but by then I'd blacked out.
...
My eyes fluttered open with fatigue and achiness. I couldn't piece together a single coherent thought and whilst I felt my eyes were open, I saw nothing but black cloaking my vision. My mind was splitting in two, as if universes were colliding and bombs were going off up there.
Muffled sounds could be heard. Machinery, clinking of glass, rattle of chains, a voice. Chains. What about chains? Why did that voice sound familiar? The only thing I was truly able to conclude was that I was concussed. Brilliant. Even whilst in a state of complete blindness, my medical mind was still turning cogs.
The sound of clicking in front of me brought me crashing back into reality.
"Open your damn eyes. You do not get the luxury of sleeping for two days straight when you're a hostage. I havent slept for 10 days, have some respect," spoke a voice I decided I very much disliked.
I was half tempted to keep my eyes shut but my curiousity would truly kill me one day.
I groaned as even the smallest movement sent needles and knives into my brain. My eyes were finally able to open and I blinked to adjust to the lighting. It was relatively dark aside from a blue glow emitting from all around me.
I felt a presence shift in front of me. My eyes leveled with what I assumed was a person but I honestly couldn't determine a mushroom from a face in the state I was in.
"Hi there. Nice of you to finally join me. I hope you enjoyed a good nights sleep, yes?" So it really was a face I was looking at.
"Oh it was splendid, thank you."
A hand slammed down on the armrest of the chair I now realised I was completely constrained against. The notion really shocked me back into the present. With my senses slowly coming back to me, I strained to see who my captor was.
My memories recalled The Doctor, Dottore however this man did not match the appearance of the clone I encountered. Was it possible that the clone was from a different time of his life? The man in front of me had the same strange shade of blue hair. It was longer. The mask was different, made it impossible to even discern whether or not he was human or robot. It completely covered his eyes and nose and pointed downwards sharply, only leaving the lower third of his face visible. Sharing a resemblance with Fatui Agent masks, I concluded it was most likely the original Dottore himself.
He was taller, his shoulders wider, arms better built however his white suit still remained relatively the same with only a few adjustments.
"For a hostage, you're awfully cocky arent you darling?" His voice was laced with venom.
"I have been told I have no filter. However do not mistake this as an apology for anything I say," I hissed back.
Dottore crouched down in front of me, running a hand down his face.
"Why on earth do people refuse to do nothing but disappoint?! Even my own clone. Did you know my orders were explicitly to retrieve the core from you, steal all your notes and dispose of you? What did this deranged idiot do?" He yelled pointing to what appeared to be a jumble of body parts on the table. "He brings you here! To my own lab where I now have to deal with you personally!"
He paused before continuing again with his rambling. "No. No, you know what? This has nothing to do with him. He's me, and I am genius. This was your doing! Why did you provoke him? What on earth could you have possibly said that made him think it would be a good idea to do the exact opposite of what I asked? You see, this is why I cant trust anyone but myself."
This was honestly quite hilarious to watch. Of course it was quite mortifying that he'd completely disassembled the clone for going against orders but it was as if he was arguing with himself about himself. They did say he had a screw or three loose.
"Well?"
"Well what?" I asked.
He groaned. "What did you say to him?"
"Are you not able to check his memory disc yourself?" I asked confused.
He seemed surprised by my suggestion for unknown reasons. "I no longer want to associate myself with that brainless clone."
"Ok... Well I told him that he couldn't have expected me to hand over the core when he couldnt even come in person. By "he" I was referring to you, if you are indeed the prime Dottore. I might've also called you a coward to which he didnt find very amusing. One thing led to another and here we are," I explained briefly.
He was silent for a moment. It was killing me that I couldnt see his face with that ridiculous mask on. Analysing behaviour and mannerisms was a skill I tended to depend on when interacting with others.
I'd picked it up from days as a spy working for the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Whilst I do not know his purpose for wearing this mask, it was certainly working in his favour because I couldnt clock a single thought that was going on in his mind.
After some time, he spoke. "You were able to distinguish that he was a clone?"
"He was surprised too. He said that it made me interesting which I presume is why he brought me to you. You are the prime Dottore, correct?"
Once again, a brief silence flitted by. Completely ignoring my question, he scurried off somewhere and appeared once again with a pen and notebook in hand.
"Tell me how."
I frowned in confusion. "How what?"
"How you recognized him as a clone!" He responded in frustration. I couldn't understand why he wanted to know that but these clones seemed to mean an awful lot to him. It occured to me that perhaps he would want some pointers that could help improve their performance.
"Uh well I noticed his chest wasn't moving, and he wasn't breathing in any identifiable way. Also their was a line on the side of the neck which was partially visible that indicated where his parts were assembled and connected at. Furthermore, the elemental lense in his pupil was visible when light reflected off it at certain angles."
He scribbled multiple things down before taking a step back to study me.
"Maybe he was on to something after all," Dottore muttered under his breath.
Once again he darted out of sight for some time as I remained seated and strapped tightly to the harsh wooden chair. I tried to conjure up some Electro energy but felt nothing. My eyes looked all over for the vision but it was useless.
"Looking for your little trinket? You can forget it. Its mine to study now," he called from somewhere behind me.
"If you want to study it, I'd suggest not doing anything akin to damaging it as the results are less than pleasant," I responded back.
He was back in front of me in an instant. He seemed to move particularly fast all thanks to his long legs and strong build.
"And you know this how?"
"I'm a scientist. The first thing that popped into my head when I received it was to test it out. I was rewarded with a first degree burn on my arms and hands," I deadpanned.
"Fascinating," he muttered under his breath. It appears my experiences with it didnt deter him whatsoever.
"So are you going to let me go anytime soon or...?" I asked once he'd disappeared again.
It seemed like his mind was moving at incredible speeds that he almost couldnt keep up with his own thoughts. He was a little bit like me in that sense. After all, we were both specialists in the same field. I was curious to know how far his talents reached however.
"Oh. The core. Right. Thats what I'd forgotten. No absolutely not, you're not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Well not until you give me the core that is. If you don't... I have a dozen or so methods of convincing you just off the top of my head," he sneered at me as he came back into sight.
He pulled a chair from nearby and took a seat opposite me.
"Your choice," he shrugged.
I pursed my lips in thought. I still didn't know what they needed it for but I could come up with many theories and none of them ended well.
If there was truly no way out of here then maybe I really would have to cooperate. And to do that, I needed to understand their motives, objectives. It was proving quite difficult to understand them however with Dottores features hidden from sight.
He was strangely patient as I took my time considering my options. He only faced me, I could not tell where he truly was looking.
"Tell me why you want it. If the reason is something I might be interested in taking part in, I would even teach you and explain to you exactly how I did it," is what I finally decided to say.
The small smile that graced his lips fell.
"Those are Fatui secrets. You are terribly bold demanding something like that of a Harbinger." At this he stood and strolled calmly towards me, chains slowly slithering out of his sleeves as it once did before. "It appears you have forgotten your place, dear girl. Now you will either show me where it is and also show me how to make it or I'll pick you apart and shove you inside an artificial body where your mind is wired to answer my every command. Tell me, what is your choice?"
He was standing directly above me at this point. His jaw tensed out of anger of being demanded things and of the patience he had to expend for my sake.
I stared back blankly. The key here was to show absolutely no fear, no emotion. Betray no feeling and they will not have the upper hand. Miss Yelan had taught me this long ago and I've lived everyday abiding by this. My breathing was at risk of visibly speeding up however I put all my effort into remaining completely unshaken.
"Amazing. I've never once seen this behaviour pattern before," he spoke astounded.
Immediately he was distracted and once again off to grab a notebook and pen, jotting things down. "I've never witnessed a reaction like this before. How fascinating."
"If you can answer all my questions and go through my assessment I will tell you why we need the core and you will then show me how you did it. How does that sound?" He compromised.
Well it sounded too good to be true, that's for sure. Either his questions were something only a genius could answer or the assessment included something like dissection.
I was seriously trapped. I only had one advantage here and that was that I was currently the only person in Teyvat (as far as he's learned) that was capable of creating a Field Tiller core that worked on Khaenrian energy out of nothing. Besides, if his explanation did not satisfy me, I could always figure a way out of here. I only needed more time.
"Alright. I agree to those terms."
"Excellent!"
That immediately unnerved me but I could only go along with it.
What surprised me next was how he began to undo the constraints tying me to the chair.
"Try anything and you wont even reach the door before you are made up of 36 separate parts. Got it, doc?" He whispered in my ear as he undid the remaining ties.
My heart was ripping through my chest at the sudden murderous aura around him. I only nodded silently because I certainly believed him.
Once I felt free enough to stand, I hastily thought that the previous events had left me completely unharmed. I soon learned this was not the case when my vision blackened, my breath cut short and my knees buckled.
"Woah now, what do you think you are? Invincible? Dont be stupid, you haven't healed from the beating you took," informed Dottore.
His arms held me by the waist holding me up effortlessly as my legs struggled to remain standing. I blinked slowly, wincing at the returning headache. Only now had I realised the bandage wrapped around my head. My breathing returned to normal after a short while as Dottore tried to pull me back into the seat.
I pushed away from his arms, shivering at the touch of him.
"I appreciate your help but please do not touch me. I'm fine now. Where were we?"
"Careful with that tone, girl. We made a deal but that doesn't mean I won't simply dispose of you at any time. I'm very capable of cracking the trick to the core alone but we are simply too pressed for time," he warned. "Now come along."
Hesitantly, I followed behind him. My eyes scanned the surroundings only to find I was even more curious. This was a scientist's heaven.
My face was probably expressing admiration and awe. I gorged on the sight of jars upon jars of ingredients ranging from elemental residue of every element to the unusual hillichurl masks. Shelves of old scrolls and manuscripts lined up by each other, bookcases of the oldest cures and concoctions, it was completely bewildering.
"You like what you see? You could work here if you do what I say," he spoke in a tempting tone.
I was slowly beginning to be persuaded which was not a good sign but the things I could research in here were beyond even this world. The machinery and equipment was of the newest and most efficient level. Gathering data would be as easy as breathing. Dottore was really making this a whole lot harder to reject this life.
We reached a strange looking glass cylinder. It could fit a large human and seemed to have X ray scanners fitted in.
I'd almost forgotten he wasn't just a mad scientist, but also a doctor. That would explain the bandage on my head, despite its sloppy appliance. He probably wasnt too bothered about the fact I was bleeding out and heavily concussed. The headache was still pouding, chipping away at my mind. I'd have to get some painkillers soon or I might just pass out for another two days.
"We will begin with the interrogation. I will ask questions, you answer with no trouble. Are you capable of doing that darling? Or do I have to bring in the electric chair?" Dottore asked with a petty smile.
It really was hard talking to him when I had no visuals on his eyes. As scary as they were with their blood red glare, it would help a whole lot.
"How will you know if im telling the truth?"
"I can't know for sure but I'm certainly confident in my analysis of character and mannerisms. I would use the truth serum we are developing but the last girl who tried it had her blood turn into acid and melt her from the inside out. It was such a horrible inconvenience to get cleaned up, and the smell! My goodness. Wouldn't want that to happen again. Unless of course, you're up for being our guinea pig for the next batch?"
"I'll pass."
"Thats what I thought. Now don't speak unless spoken to."
The only solid thing I could determine about his character was that he was always in a state of perpetual confusion. Not exactly confusion, but I believe something might have happened that led to his personality being quite spontaneous and continuously changing.
Mood swings were quite common as I'd picked up on, sometimes in a playful mood other times threatening and dominant. As much as I disliked this man, he was undeniably an interesting character that I found myself wanting to know more about. It unnerved me how picking him apart and analysing him was something I was actually interested in.
Dottore spun around to face me, clipboard and pen in hand. He began walking around me slowly as he proceeded to ask his questions.
"How old are you?" This was the first question asked. Quite an easy one i thought.
"23."
He stopped abruptly. Rewinded back till he was in front of me again. There was a very noticeable height difference between us, so much so that I had to crane my neck up to look at him. The top of my head reached his collarbone at best. I couldn't read what he was thinking but my age appeared to surprise him or confuse him.
Once he'd recovered, Dottore was back to walking around me. He asked basic questions concerning my height, weight, birth year. It was almost as if he was creating a fact file about me.
"How did you get your vision?"
I pursed my lips. This wasn't a story I was a fan of. I didn't tell it often, and I certainly wasnt prepared to tell it a mad man who was rumoured to have turned many living people into robotic creations.
I sighed. "I was dispatched on a mission from when I worked as a spy for a particular Ministry. The objective was to trail a gang of treasure hoarders causing trouble on the border of the region and once I had intercepted them, they revealed that they had a hostage with them. A little girl. She was gagged and tied up and they warned me if I'd gotten any closer they would throw her off the edge of the cliff. Below was a raging sea and jagged rocks. Essentially, she would be skewed like a chicken mushroom skewer. I was torn to be honest. I wanted to save her but the odds were against me. This wasn't exactly part of the job description. I was never supposed to have to choose between her life or mine. But throughout the majority of my life, I've had a strong dedication to my occupation, no matter what it was. Therefore, I was determined to see this through. I was going into this, accepting that I was going to die but a young girl under ten years old would live to see the rest of her life."
I paused, looking up. He was listening intently. Dottore motioned with his hand for me to continue.
"I caused a distraction by throwing some smoke bombs and when they were disoriented, I lunged forward shoving the girl inland and taking the treasure hoarders down with me. I'm not sure what happened after that, I couldn't seem to be able to explain what I saw or felt. I remember falling off the cliff, almost in slow motion believe it or not. It felt like a near death experience. Just as I was nearing the jagged rocks, a lightning bolt lit up the sky and I felt a surge of energy. Something solid had begun to form in my hand and I was teleported back to land where I appeared right beside the crying girl. I scared the living day light out of her and she passed out but she was safe. And so was I apparently. The vision was in my hand glowing and sending fizzling electricity into the air around it. Thats how I got my vision." I shrugged.
He considered this before speaking.
"Were you happy to receive one?" Dottore asked this slowly, almost hesitant.
This caught me off guard. I couldnt conceal the surprise this time but I recovered insantly. I'd realised I'd never really thought about it that deeply.
"Im not sure. People often wish they recieve visions because it means they were chosen by the gods, or some other nonsense like that. I wasn't an adventurer or a traveller of any sort. My job did require me to have good combat skills but I never wished for a vision. Truth be told... I was kind of ok with dying then. I was dying to save her life and whilst I still had so much I wanted to do, I didn't feel like I'd lost anything. I had no reaction to receiving a vision. I thought maybe I could test a little bit and you already how that went but aside from that, it has never been a big part of me. Only for protection."
Dottore remained silent and continued to write things down. I thought he'd forgotten I was there after a while because he was muttering to himself and he hadn't even asked a question.
"You worked as a spy. Is that why you have little to no emotional reaction to anything?"
I've got to admit, I was a little taken aback by the fact that he basically just called me emotionless.
I did feel. I felt a lot. And the reason I felt a lot was because I always trapped it inside. I bottled it up so much that I just feel a jumble of different emotions inside me tearing apart at each other, clawing to reach the parts of me that will let go and let me feel. I've never allowed that to happen however, so it soon became hard for me to distinguish what I was actually feeling. I can't really remember what different emotions are actually supposed to feel like anymore.
And eventually it stopped affecting me to the point where I forget that in order to function most efficiently I do have to take care of my mental health. I just havent gotten round to it yet. I would never ever say this out loud however, so I merely settled with:
"Yes."
I hoped my swirling thoughts couldnt be visible through my eyes. Eyes can tell you a whole lot about a person which explains why I couldn't understand this strange man no matter how hard I tried. I really wanted to rip that infernal mask off his face and get a good look at him. Perhaps I'd ask him what purpose it served when he was in one of his good moods.
"Well that's it for the interrogation. You answered well. Now pleases step into this case where we will begin the examination," he ordered as he headed in the direction of the control panel.
The control panel which had a whole lot more buttons than I felt was necessary.
I hesitated. He stopped his trip to the panel to turn back at me
"Nervous are we?" Dottore chuckled. "The most this machine can do is make you dizzy. These buttons are for other - more dangerous - gadgets."
I didnt believe a word that came out of his mouth however it was get in that thing or be turned into minced meat. He grinned at me and what I really began to hate was how only his smile could be visible from the mask. I was starting to wonder if that was intentional because it was certainly intimidating.
Dottores POV
She was starting to freak me out.
First of all, I dont actually know her name. The number of files I view in a day means that irrelevant facts like this one tend to get forgotten. I wont bother asking because she'll die soon anyway.
Unless... This is strange for me. I've never once doubted my decision to kill someone but it appears to be happening at this very moment.
This woman is so intriguing and I'm struggling to keep my curiousity at bay. I want to pick her apart, open her up and take out that supposedly big brain of hers. I wanted to unravel it and find out exactly what shes thinking because her eyes are blanker than a sheet of paper and she talks like a dead fish. I said before how confident I am in my character analysis but she seems to be humbling my skill.
Women have always been strange creatures to me. They look weird and talk weird and act weird and care about weird things. Any woman I've had to deal with before has followed the precise and accurate behaviour pattern I've studied from them before. The occasional change is usually when they break and can't think straight anymore.
This girl. She's like nothing I've seen before. Her behaviour is so off the charts, I genuinely had to take a moment to comprehend her actions. Huge anomalies like herself tend to stump scientists.
She hasn't flinched or cried or whimpered or screamed once. Not a single one of my threats has brought out even an ounce of life from her. From her story of how she got her vision, I concluded that she doesnt care for life and is probably mentally unstable as she was fine with plummeting to her death. Personally I admire that about her, but objectively speaking as a doctor, that is irregular.
I've only seen flashes of emotion. Anger, surprise, perhaps irritation. It's driving me nuts. I hoped my questions would stir something in her but she is so persistent.
She even admitted her emotionless demeanor came from her days as a so called spy. I don't know how that fits into her background because she has shown knowledge of scientific ability.
When she told me she'd successfully distinguished between a clone and myself I didnt believe her. The reason I asked her was to check for myself and ensure to make adjustments to newer models. What astonished me the most was she was absolutely correct about everything she said.
Model D56.001 really did have incorrections that could reveal his true nature. How she noticed them, I will never know. Perhaps she was wearing contact lenses with enhanced visuals because it took me a good minute or so to actually see the elemental lense in the clone.
Not to mention, the parts sectioning. It was impossibly thin and unnoticeable. She can't be human. She's a strange, strange women and she's starting to frighten me because I made sure to test her DNA. Results showed she is truly 100% human and any files about her from the regions she's lived in, reveal she has a high IQ. That can't just be it though.
She doesn't fear me whatsoever. Fear is how I work. My soldiers follow me because they are terrified of what I can do to them yet she sits there absorbing my threats as if they were simply beta radiation. She almost looked bored! Can you believe her?!
I need to crack her. Thats the conclusion I've come to. She beat me to the Field Tiller Core and it was humiliating. No one beats me and gets away with it. Is this not suggesting that she might be... smarter than me?
I'm a genius! The Tsaritsa chose me for a reason. I know underneath her cold stare, she's writhing with ugly emotions and thoughts and she isn't half as intelligent as she appears to be. It is likely she has been able to engineer serums or contraptions that have given her the ability to see more than the human eye. This X-ray will reveal it all.
I vow that she will not leave this place until I've gotten what I want from her and until I have cracked her. I will know what shes thinking and I will find out how she did it.
I will break her.