Chapter Text
By the time they arrived, the sun was already properly up and pouring its light source onto the land. The tall building loomed over the duo, decorated with slick cold and blue tinted glass and white collums for the structure; its name was spelled boldly on the entrance—Ansan National and Advanced Kinetic Technologies. Or ANAKT, for short.
Till jumped out and Ivan followed him like a puppy, reaching out to smooth down his collar, gently swiping a napkin he got from Gods knows where along the yolk-streaked edge of the gray-haired man’s creamy-white coat.
“Let me—”
Till swatted him away without looking, hissing through his teeth. “Ivan, seriously—not now.”
Ivan’s fingers paused mid-air, stilled in that gentle almost touch but he quickly lowered his hand, and tucked the napkin away. His lips pressed into that same, emotionless thin expression of utter neutrality.
Ivan nodded. “Understood. Apologies for the inconvenience, Professor.’’
Inside the ANAKT building, the temperature dropped by at least a whole five degrees—it was all artificial cold pumped out of ceiling vents, walls white and slick like the building had even less emotions than the robots it created. Dozens of scientists in long, white coats buzzed around the metal halls like a party of bees, clutching tablets, murmuring to themselves about their future deadlines, waving hands or pointing fingers over the multitude hues of blue, pretty holographic panels suspended in mid air.
The raven quietly trailed behind Till as he ducked his head through the crowd with the speed of someone who definitely didn’t want to be seen in an embarrassing yolk down the side of his coat, teal eyes vehemently avoiding anyone's gaze.
Till’s private lab was in the east wing, nestled between “A.I. Behavioral Engineering” and “Biomech Prosthetics.” He pushed the door open with his elbow, mumbling curses as he tossed his bag onto a stool next to his computer and started flipping through the various post-it notes left on his desk of things he had to do or finish.
Ivan stepped inside, onyx-colored eyes scanning the room. As always, everything was just as they’d left it as the night before; papers in unsorted piles, monitors still logged in, a half-drunk can of Bacchus D on the floor and several open containers of half-eaten, stale jjapaguri.
“Okay,” Till muttered, dropping onto his chair. He tried messing with his silver hair to fix it, but strands he as defiant as they are, just made him look even worse . “No one noticed I’m late. Probably... I hope.”
Ivan made a soft sound in his throat that wasn’t quite a sigh to get the scientist's attention. “Should I remind you, sir,” Ivan said, stepping forward, “that today you are presenting the Micro-Density Kinetic Shell prototype to the board?”
“Oh, shit .” Till groaned, slumping onto his used, chipped black chair. “When you meant meaning this morning you meant that?! That’s today? ”
The black-haired robot was about to answer, probably some sharp reply about how he’d reminded him the entire month , but the moment was interrupted by the click-clack of heels on tile and the voice that chimed with it like a bird’s song—high, bright and cheery, practically bouncing off the walls.
“ Till-ahjussi! ”
Till suddenly froze. His head cocked up and whipped around like a startled deer caught mid-chew towards the entrance of his glassy lab.
“M-Mizi!” he squeaked.
Standing in the hallway, beaming like her entire life was a party in itself, was Mizi—ANAKT’s golden girl of organic robotics. Her white coat slid off one shoulder as she walked, revealing a pastel, yellow turtleneck tucked into high-waisted, bleached jeans, name tag on her chest reading Mizi Baek doodled around pink pen.
Her hair was a soft wave of pink with blue tips that reminded of blooming Sakura trees dipped in clear sea, thick and round gray glasses perched on her nose, slightly fogged.
“Good morning , sleepyhead,” she grinned. “Oversleep again?”
Till grimaced, blush thickening over his cheeks. “Mizi, please don’t call me ahjussi in front of the interns… I’m not even past my twenties yet...”
She laughed in her long, white sleeve. “Fine, fine. Till-ah. I'm just teasing.”
Behind her stood her own robot, Sua—a smooth-faced android with short black hair, and purple eyes that caught the light like beautiful, fresh amethyst. Her skin was as pale as porcelain. And for reasons Ivan could not— and would not— understand, she looked like him . Even the way they moved silently and sometimes in sync made him feel like they were mirrors of each other, if not for not being the same sex.
Sua and Ivan locked eyes for a second, purple swallowing black.
Ivan didn’t blink. Sua did.
They both tilted their heads at exactly the same time and looked back to their creators with bored looks.
Till stepped forward, rubbing the back of his neck as blush covered his cheeks and his smooth nape. Suddenly the entire room felt burning hot like lava. “But uhm! Uh, wow. You’re—early.”
The pink-haired girl giggled again, a sound pleasing to the ears. “Really? Aren’t you the late one Till-ah? Also, you’ve got egg on your coat.”
The older man looked down at himself, then let out a fake mortified groan, like he hadn’t noticed, light eyebrows furrowing at the very present bright yellow stain. “Ivan—”
“I did tell you before we came in,” Ivan interrupted him smoothly, stepping forward. His face looked stern if not a little upset. “You swore at me for it.”
Mizi’s laughter bubbled out again like a shaken-up soda can, covering her mouth with her hand. “He’s always like that with you, huh?” she teased.
Ivan folded his arms behind his back, posture perfect; he didn’t return her smile, either. “Yes. Professor Till can be quite the hardheaded man.’’
Mizi stepped back from Till, finally pulling her attention away to now go towards Ivan, golden eyes like dripping honey sticking to the android. “Speaking of which, how are you doing, Ivan?”
He paused for a moment before responding. “I am... well. Functioning.” His tone was clipped and synthetic as usual, though Till’s eyes turned into slits from where he stood.
Though said and done, his empty, bottomless black eyes—those uncanny red irises—lingered on the space between her and Till. On how close she stood. On how Till hadn’t stepped back yet.
“Your internal temperature is rising,” Ivan tried to change his mind, speaking to Till. “Your pupils are dilated. Heart rate elevated. You are either infatuated or experiencing the live onset of mild influenza.”
“ Stop analyzing me, ” Till spat under his breath, face now an even bigger shade of different hues of pink.
“Professor Till,” Sua began calmly, slicing open her silence. Sua stepped forward soundlessly and extended her hand toward Till, the thin diagnostic panel resting neatly in her palm. The older man took the panel, seemingly confused, before his mind glued the dots together and he almost yelped.
She lightly bowed, black strands falling onto her cheeks and forehead before straightening back up her head. “You left your diagnostic panel open again yesterday. I’ve encrypted it in the data of your computer and closed it before someone else could access it.”
“Shit—I did?! ” Till rubbed the bridge of his nose, hugging the panel in his arms before settling it on his work desk. “Thanks, Sua. You're a lifesaver.”
“A rather generous compliment, Professor,” she replied flatly, her face blank and still like an ice statue. “But appreciated.”
Mizi waved at him in the air like she was brushing away smoke, a dumb smile etched on her face. “I brought coffee, by the way! Thought you might need it—you’ve got that meeting with Chief Luka in a few minutes, right? And also, protein bars for everyone!”
“Oh god, fuck, yeah— thank you! ” He practically snatched the white paper cup out of her hand, taking a sip and visibly relaxed, eyes fluttering shut for a second as he dripped into the warm feeling. The steam curled into the air like soft fog between them, warming up his rosy cheeks.
“You’re a saint. Seriously .” Till huffed, the cup curled in between his fingers. “If I had to face Chief Luka uncaffeinated, I’d probably resign on the spot.” The pink-haired scientist giggled at that, fixing her glasses.
Ivan frowned—very subtly that is. His facial design only allowed for minor expressions, but that didn’t mean he felt any less—and right now, the registered feeling was discomfort and a cold feeling like a cave in his chest compartment.
Speaking of, Mizi turned to him with a warm smile and gave her a bar, wrapped in slim blue foil to the robot. “And for you, Ivan!”
The raven paused before accepting it between two fingers, careful not to touch her. “I do not require sustenance,” he answered, voice flat like the still surface of a lake.
Mizi paused before laughing sheepishly, putting the protein bar in the wide pocket of her coat. “Right! I always forget,” she giggled, tapping her own forehead, muttering to herself how much of a dummy and stupid she was. “Ahh, it's a habit! Sua doesn’t eat either, though she does pretend to sometimes so much so I forget she's not a human to begin with... It’s kind of cute, actually. Isn’t that right?”
Sua inclined her head in a polite nod, pale and thin hands folded over her thighs and expression blank. “Simulated consumption has social benefits and to avoid disappointing you. Professor Mizi then, as a result, often forgets I am incapable of digestion.”
Mizi beamed, her face lightening up, petting the black-haired girl’s hair. “See! She's the sweetest, always worried about me!”
Ivan’s expression didn’t change, but he did very carefully look away from the scientist. Instead, his gaze found the girl android again. He stared. She stared back once more. A full five 5 seconds passed. Neither android moved nor talked, like tall and pale effigies of noisy silence.
Mizi looked between them, then burst into another giggle.
“They’re so weird,” she whispered loudly to Till, who laughed too—awkwardly that is but fondly, his cheeks still a bright red.
Ivan’s gaze was cold snaggletooth pressing against his bottom lip. “We are standing right here, Professor Mizi. ”
That startled her into a pause. Then she held up both hands with a smile. “Okay, okay—my bad. Just very synchronized. Like creepy twins in a horror movie!”
“ Incorrect ,” Ivan replied immediately, shaking his head. “We are not related.”
Sua added, expression blank but a faint frown of her thick eyebrows was visible, “And I do not exhibit traits categorized as ‘creepy.’”
Mizi giggled sheepishly before turning back her attention to the gray-haired man, seemingly remembering the reason why she came outside of snacks and coffee. “Right, uhm! Professor, could you come help me with the particle accelerator later? The settings reset again after Dewey tripped the circuit. I could really use your magic hands.”
Till’s face went a shade pinker than the strawberry streaks in Mizi’s hair. How had he not passed out yet from the sheer blood loss in his body that filled up his cheeks? He almost spat in his drink, throat choking mid-sip on the hot beverage and fumbled with his coffee cup before clearing his throat. “M-my—? Oh. Yeah! Yeah, sure. I mean...totally. After the team meeting. I can make time—”
Ivan’s hand twitched at his side, face tightening up. “I can assist with the recalibration,” he offered, carefully. “My hands are accurate within 0.00002 millimeters.”
Mizi just beamed again. “Oh, Ivan. I’m sure you can , but I need Till. He’s got the... the touch.” She winked as she said it, nudging Till with her elbow in a way that made him stammer over his words and grin all over again like a stupidly happy golden retriever.
Ivan said nothing. His eyelids lowered, subtle red glow in his irises dimmed, just a degree or two—enough to read as disappointment, if one knew him well. Sua approached him then, her steps making no sound against the tile as the two scientists began chatting (well, mostly one-sided as Mizi was chattering, Till was just nodding like a flustered idiot).
“Hello, Sua,” Ivan said as she approached, voice cool and warm, nothing like the chaos unveiling in his circuits. “It has been 74 hours since our last interaction.”
“Hello, Ivan,” Sua replied, voice equally soft yet carrying a hint of mimicry—like the sound of rain on a tempered glass window. “You look well.”
“I look the same.”
“That may be why,” The black-haired girl replied, her tone flat. “You do not change.”
The raven's unblinking gaze remained fixed on the violet-eyed android, his head tilting ever so slightly. “You... do not change either,” he continued, “Your appearance remains consistent.”
“I do not require change,” Sua replied. She blinked, hands still on the white dress covering her thighs. “I am designed to perform specific tasks, not to evolve.”
Ivan processed this for a moment, eyes turning into slits as he analyzed the smaller girl. “Task-oriented... yet you mimic behaviors outside of function,” he observed.
Sua’s lips curved in the weirdest of stretched smiles, the expression as sharp as a blade and as cool as a bucket of ice. “Correct; I mimic, ” she agreed, her voice softened, almost sweet like a bowl of melted caramel marshmallow. “Because it facilitates interaction. It is what is expected, unit I.V.02. ”
Meanwhile, Till had started chugging his coffee as the pink-haired girl chatted at him the whole time, voice rising and falling in delighted, almost musical waves. Ivan watched, silently cataloguing each laugh, albeit awkward and sometimes misplaced, that Till gave her. Ivan’s fingers twitched behind his back.
“Do you ever wonder,” he said aloud, not even realizing he had, gaze still fixated on Till. “why some entities make you feel... like you’ve slowed down?”
Sua tilted their head in confusion. “Is that a malfunction?”
“Maybe,” the raven replied. But the chip inside me doesn’t think it is, he thought.
“Anyway, I’ll see you around, Professor Till. Don’t forget ake care of yourself, okay? We don’t want that incident happening again. Don’t make me send Sua after you next time for a medical check-up.”
Till chuckled, slightly grimacing at the reminder of his sudden passing out when Ivan woke up for the first time, raising an eyebrow at Mizi. “You know he’ll listen to me better than her, right?”
Mizi waved a hand dismissively, already turning toward the white, pristine and deathly clean hallway that led to the reactor area, baring him a tooth-filled smile. “Of course! Of course! But only because Sua is so much more obedient!” she yelled, Sua picking up the pace behind her quietly like a living little children’s doll.
As the pink-haired girl and Sua walked away, Ivan’s black and red gaze followed, a flicker of a bitter and cold feeling curling in his chest. There was something about Mizi’s presence that made him feel... displaced and out of the loop. She was so effortlessly close to Till—so comfortable, so soft and easy to be, as if she belonged in that space. And he ...
“ Ivan? ” The silver-haired man’s hoarse voice pulled him back from the endless swirl of the abyss that was his thoughts. He turned to face him, face neutral and calm but his fingers and eyebrow twitching betrayed him.
“Yes, Professor Till?”
“Stop scowling,” Till said, sliding a hand through his gruffy, undone gray hair. “You’re going make the other researchers and scientists nervous .”
Ivan blinked before nodding silently, recalibrating to the expected neutrality he was built with. “Understood.”