Work Text:
The Bankier walks in while Tau is working, lazily flicking on the lights of the laboratory. Tau scoffs. Useless humans always seem to need to be able to see. Like their eyes are too weak to work in the dark. He changes the settings to his eyes.
The Bankier does not state his intentions.
He walks over to the desk on the right, the one where Zeta always keeps his latest projects that he promised to still work on. Yet, Tau knows they’ll stay there until Omicron gets sick of them and throws them all away in the middle of a tantrum.
Dottore has given him permission to snoop around. According to Delta, Dottore trusts the Bankier more than any of the segments. Pathetic. Tau is the one who’s working on his research right now.
His vision shifts back to the experiment as the Bankier rummages through the projects, dropping multiple of them on the floor. Nothing about this concerns Tau. Nothing, really. And yet, a curiosity prods at the threads of his consciousness.
“Regrator,” he speaks up. His voice sounds as cold and indifferent asTau is supposed to be. “State your business in the lab.”
The Bankier hums quietly, a silent laugh falling past his lips. “My, my. How cold, Tau.”
According to the teachings of Sigmund Freud, humans express their nervous energy through doing the activity of laughing. Smiling is a sign of the deployment of a voluntary social strategy. Tau sees no need for it.
Still, Dottore seems pleased at the answer. Upsilon pushes his rise of annoying and very human feelings onto Tau, and involuntarily his blood rises to his cheeks.
Tau lets his lips settle into a displeased smile.
“The Doctor wants to know your motives,” he says. The tone of his voice suggests a 0.756% switch in his mood, which is to blame on Upsilon. Segments have no need for feelings, and especially not for crushes. They are not human.
They will not be.
If Beta were the one to stand here, the Bankier would not try to be so bold.
“If Zandik wishes to inquire about my plans, he is free to come find me in my office,” the Bankier replies. The smile is still on his lips. The upturned corners of his lips suggests that he finds this interaction to be amusing.
Zandik.
The name of a consciousness that does not fully belong to him.
It’s evident in the results of the screenings. Mu and Xi are the ones who overlap the most. Based on human research on twins, Tau is allowed to consider them twins in both minds and body.
Each segment holds their secrets as much as they are connected to Prime, and Tau knows Dottore keeps an eye on them all. They are here to serve him, after all. Segments of their own personality that are forever bound to his existence.
And yet, Zandik is the closest they have to an exception.
Statistics don’t like exceptions. Averages are less balanced when taking in the extremes, and Tau does not agree with the Bankier’s actions. He wishes to get to know Zandik. He should not be allowed to.
And yet, Dottore gave him permission for that too.
Tau does not roll his eyes at the Bankier’s response, for that would be too childish and way too close to being human. He settles on evening out his face instead of giving him the luxury of a reply.
Not that he needs to, because the door to the lab opens again.
“Mr. Pantalone,” a voice to his right yells out, and Tau dims his hearing when he hears the giggling. Kappa runs past him, almost jumping over Prime’s desk, and he can hear Zeta laughing in his head. Pathetic.
Somewhere in the back of his mind Dottore hums, pleased.
“Mr. Pantalone,” Kappa repeats, breathless as he clings onto the Bankier’s leg. He’s as childish as ever. It’s almost disgusting to think that he too used to be like this.
The Bankier hums, ruffling Kappa’s hair. “Yes, my favourite helper?”
His voice sounds 53.683% softer than usual. Tau squints his eyes ever so slightly, adjusting his vision. There are crinkles around the Bankier’s eyes. Around his mouth, too, and it’s not pressed into the thin smile that he presents to Tau.
If Tau didn’t know any better than this, he’d say that the Bankier feels more affectionate towards their youngest segment. He scribbles the observation down. Dottore will be interested in this.
“Can you read me a bedtime story?” Kappa asks. Tau does not need to avert his vision to be able to know that he’s looking up at the Bankier with what he calls puppy eyes. They seem to work on everyone, including the Balladeer.
A short laugh falls past the Bankier’s lips. It seems more genuine this time, almost close to Duchenne laughter. Tau tightens his grip on his pencil ever so slightly. A genuine expression of amusement and joy.
At the sight of a segment, nonetheless.
If the Bankier would let him scan his brain activity, Tau might even be able to find activity in the brain stem and limbic system. He would make for great studying material.
“Are you replacing Capitano, Kappa?” the Bankier replies, sounding amused. “I do not think he would appreciate you switching to another Harbinger to read you to bed.”
The pout is evident in Kappa’s voice. “He’s away on a mission.”
“It can’t be helped, then,” the Bankier hums. His eyes flash with something bright and greedy for a second, and Tau sharpens his hearing. The Bankier’s heart is beating 1.37% faster than it was a few minutes ago.
He is amused.
Upsilon giggles, and a wave of a pleased comfort washes over Tau. His lips almost twitch into a genuine smile, and Dottore laughs at him from the very far back of his consciousness.
Kappa is smiling brightly when the Bankier takes his hand, letting himself get tugged along. The Bankier’s pupils are dilated when he looks over at Tau. “I’ll read you a bed time story you’ve not heard before,” the Bankier hums. “Capitano won’t have told you this one.”
So it is greed, then. Jealousy, hidden behind layers of the emotion Gamma calls love.
Tau’s chest warms and a spark of interest zips down his spine, and all he can do is school his expression into something close to the mask Delta wears. Dottore’s attraction to the Ninth will not be his problem.
Not today, at least.
When the door of the lab closes behind Kappa and the Bankier, all that left to do for Tau is clean up the mess from Zeta’s projects.