Work Text:
Zeta remembers very vividly the day Eta was "born".
Prime had gathered all of his six segments into his personal workstation to give their younger self a warm welcome. The second Zeta laid eyes on his seventeen-year-old self lying naked and lifeless on a lab table, he knew that it wasn't going to go well. As the youngest segment so far, he could recall what he was like a mere three years ago.
All the other segments looked elated at the sight of Eta. Zeta could only swallow the lump in his throat and glance around nervously. There were so many wires and tubes sticking out of him. Zeta remembers what it was like to wake up every morning back in Sumeru and see that same face Eta bore. He looked so young.
"What's up with you, Zeta?" Epsilon had asked. "I thought you'd be the most excited."
"Mind your own damn business," He shot back. Epsilon didn't push any further. That was something Zeta liked him for.
And then, Prime pulled down the lever for the mechanism that he had used to bring himself to life six times already. He cackled like a madman when bright electricity filled the room, and Zeta had to cover his eyes. Eta could be heard shrieking and writhing on the table. Strange multicolored liquids from multiple tubes stuck into Eta's body pumped into his veins, bleeding color into his skin.
And finally, it was over. The room calmed down, and Prime stood proudly over his newest creation. Eta's eyes unrolled from the back of his head, those same eyes everyone else in the room had, and glared so ferociously at Prime it sent shivers down his spine.
"Good morning, Eta." Prime chirped with a grin. Eta looked confused.
"What the fuck?" He asked. Funny, that was what Zeta said too.
"I haven't finished uploading your consciousness yet; I needed you to be awake for this part." Prime strode across the room and pulled over a device Zeta had recognized from when he was in Eta's position.
And as Zeta listened to his pained screams, he knew from then on Eta was absolutely screwed.
He would never respond to anyone when they called him by that name. Once, Omega had been standing mere inches from his face, screaming "Eta" over and over again, only for the younger segment to sit unbothered. Eventually, he gave up, walking away defeated.
Everyone had this exact same experience more than once. They could yell "Eta" until their lungs collapsed and the boy wouldn't even blink. Zeta had a good idea why. However, he wasn't sure testing out his theory would work. After a while, he decided to try his luck.
"Zandik?" He spoke. Eta's head whipped around to face him.
"Yeah?"
Prime wasn't happy about this. He outright refused to call Zandik anything more than Eta. He ordered all the other segments to do the same. No one could disobey direct orders from Prime, but there were loopholes.
Gamma approached him one day to share what they could do instead. He told Zeta that he was the only one he could tell because the others weren't listening. Zeta had never seen Gamma go out of his way like that for anyone before. It was kind of scary, really. Zeta flat out asked him if he was short-circuiting.
From then on, the two outright refused to address Zandik entirely simply to avoid saying his name. He thinks Zandik silently appreciated that. However, it only took one more year of this before everything fell apart.
It was a slow transition, but a noticeable one at that. Zandik's work ethic plummeted. He could barely even concentrate on anything anymore, and most of the time he was shaking so badly you could hear him rattling from across the hall. His bright red eyes looked so dull it was kind of scary. Most noticeably, however, was that Zandik now only had three moods- emptiness, rage, and sadness. And whenever he felt any of those, he felt hard.
(Zeta remembers the holes in the walls and smashed pieces of glass and wood and cracks in concrete; all stained with a giveaway red.)
Despite the fact they were programmed to express a wide array of at least 27, it seems Zandik's body wasn't allowing him too. When he told this to Gamma because he had no one else to tell the other segment said, "It's not his body, it's his brain."
It all came to a head when Zeta was jolted from concentration by a loud ruckus down in Prime's lab. There was screaming and banging and the shattering of glass. He shot up from his seat and ran towards the direction of the sounds.
In the hallway, he ran into Epsilon. The two segments stood by the door, neither wanting to open it.
"Do you think Pantalone came over again?" Zeta joked. Epsilon covered his mouth in a giggle. Finally, they worked up the courage to open the door.
Zeta honestly expected the lab to be destroyed by another riot the segments had organized for freedom (those never go well) but instead, Omega, Beta, Gamma, and Prime were all attempting to restrain Zandik, who was currently expelling so much elemental energy it was flinging him across the room.
The segment's body seemed to explode in an array of blue, purple, red, and green light. Zandik was screaming so terribly, tears and blood pouring from his face. Even Beta looked scared.
"What the hell is going on?" Epsilon yelled. "Is he malfunctioning?"
Across the room, Delta had retrieved the defibrillator, which Prime specifically designed for use on Scaramouche a long time ago. The man narrowly dodged out of the way as Zandik's body flew towards him, now in Delta's reach.
"Do it now, Delta!" He commanded, and the segment didn't hesitate. He dove towards Zandik and placed the buzzing machine onto his chest. Zandik froze, his mouth open in a silent scream, before jerking wildly as electricity coursed through him.
The elemental energy flooding the room dissipated as Zandik continued to seize on the floor. Prime scrambled over to the counter to fetch a syringe filled with a light blue liquid. Zeta found himself unable to move, and he could hear Epsilon's breath hitch next to him.
"Hold him down, Gamma. This should help." Prime commanded. Gamma did as he asked.
Zandik finally stopped moving after the injection. His eyes were closed as if he was asleep, but he continued to sob and clutch onto Gamma's hands. The room fell into an uneasy silence, as if he was a bomb that could go off at any sudden movement.
"What the fuck was that?" Beta yelled, breaking the tension. Prime ripped his mask off then threw it onto the floor in frustration and rubbed his hands over his face. Gamma now held Zandik in a crushing hug, who continued to sob and clutch onto him like a lifeline. His body was almost completely swallowed up by Gamma's coat. Zeta noted how small he looked.
He never saw Gamma hug anyone before. He told Zeta once that physical contact made him want to skin himself alive. So why...
"Have it your way, Zandik," Prime said exhaustedly. Zeta honestly expected him to deactivate everybody in a fit of rage. His attention suddenly became hyper focused on Prime, and Zeta knew this to be the familiar sensation of the man giving the segments a command. "You all are to refer to him by that name, and nothing else."
The room fell silent, and everyone remained in awkward silence. Prime blinked expectedly. "What are you waiting for? Get back to work!"
The segments burst into an organized clean-up of the room; Zeta included. He internally groaned at the mess. The lab was practically destroyed, and it didn't take a genius like himself to realize this would take a very long time. All he wanted to do was be back at his workstation experimenting on pyro whopperflowers.
His attention was briefly drawn away by Gamma helping Zandik up and supporting him into the vast corridors of the lab. Well, it was more like he was dragging him, actually.
Ah, Zeta understands now. Zandik is Gamma's favorite.
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Epsilon remembers the first time Zandik ran away.
It was a normal Thursday evening. He and Gamma were sharing a bottle of wine. All was right in the world until, of course, something had to ruin it.
There was a loud crash down the hallway, and what sounded like Zeta's annoying laughter. Epsilon doesn't remember being such a child back when he was twenty. Something clearly got messed up in Zeta's programming.
The two segments groaned in unison before rising to check out the noise. It was a shock, really. Zandik's door had been completely smashed open, and standing where the door used to be was the man himself. Zeta stood in the hallway, doubled over with laughter.
Zandik looked so mad Epsilon honestly thought they would have a repeat of his "psychotic break".
"What the hell are you doing?" Gamma snarled. Two heads whipped over to face him. Zandik's face softened ever so slightly at the sight of him.
"You-- won't believe--what he said!" Zeta managed to say through fits of laughter. Zandik's fist closed around his throat.
"If you say another word, I'll kill you!"
Epsilon decided to let Gamma handle this and considered fetching a bowl of popcorn.
"That's enough- separate, both of you!" Gamma marched over and lifted the two by their collars. It was hilarious how he treated them like children. He turned back to Epsilon with an expectant look, and the segment sighed, realizing that he would have to do something, after all.
"Take this one," He tossed a hysterical Zeta towards him. "Put him in time out or something."
Gamma dragged Zandik, who looked as if he could expel smoke from his ears, back into his respective room. Which was now doorless, by the way. Epsilon dragged Zeta into what Delta dubbed the "time out" room, which was really just a large storage closet.
He and Zeta ended up playing Go Fish for an hour.
Then, of course, his fun was ruined yet again.
Gamma yanked open the door to the room so fast Epsilon jumped. He was breathing heavily as if he's run a marathon, and his hair was strewn askew. Instantly, Epsilon could sense something was wrong.
"He's gone," Gamma breathed. "Zandik. I can't find him anywhere. What the fuck did you do, Zeta?"
"I was just joking around with him!" Zeta shot up defensively. Both he and Gamma knew that wasn't the truth- they both remember being sort of a pathological liar back then. The real question was why Gamma was making such a big show instead of quietly informing their creator. The man was so cool normally; this seemed very out of character.
"Should we fetch Prime? He won't be happy..."
And happy he was not. Epsilon remembers the man swearing in at least four different languages, tearing Zandik's room apart for any sign of where he had gone, and even forced the other Harbingers to search the entire palace. Perks of being Second.
After their efforts bore no fruit, he turned the "time out" room into an interrogation room complete with an overhead lamp that he could swing in your face. Epsilon was honestly terrified when he was called in by the way Zeta came out looking like he was going to "pull a Zandik" himself.
"Your turn, Epsilon." Prime's voice called eerily from the dark room. Epsilon gulped nervously. He tried to walk in as slowly as possible, and he honestly thought his nonexistent soul left his body when the door slammed behind him.
"Epsilon," Prime purred. He looked truly demonic under the low hanging light and mask hiding his eyes. "Have a seat."
After he did as told, Prime cut right to the chase.
"Where were you during the time of Zandik's disappearance?"
"I was playing Go Fish with Zeta in here." He answered truthfully.
"Is that so?" Prime swung the lamp close to Epsilon's face, which momentarily blinded him. He flinched rather strongly. "Good, good. He said the same thing."
"U-uh-huh," He stuttered.
"Tell me, Epsilon, when did you learn our dear youngest was missing?" He returned the lamp back to normal, thank The Tsaritsa.
"When Gamma bursted through the door and started screaming his head off."
"Is that so?" Epsilon couldn't see under his mask, but he was certain Prime had quirked up a brow.
"Ye-"
"Interesting. Very interesting, indeed." How was that question even relevant?
"Do you know why Zandik decided to run away?" Prime's hand was inching towards the lamp. If he swung it again, Epsilon was going to deactivate himself.
"I might have an idea. See, me and Gamma were just drinking down the hall, when all of a sudden, we heard this crash. I guess Zandik kicked down his door or something, I don't really know," Prime made a hurried gesture with his hand as to say go on.
"So, me and Gamma saw Zeta laughing at him really hard, and Zandik looked like he was about to have a repeat of... you know. Then, when Zeta was going to tell us what he was laughing at, Zandik strangled him. I guess he told him something really embarrassing. Then, Gamma broke them up and sent Zeta with me."
Prime tapped his chin in thought.
"I see. Thank you for your time. You're free to go." Epsilon sighed in relief and wasted no time getting out of there. As he returned to his workstation, he heard the distant call of, "Get in here, Delta!"
The night Zandik returned, Epsilon didn't see him. No one did for four days, besides Beta. They sure as hell heard him, though. The whole time, Epsilon watched Gamma pace relentlessly and constantly screw up on his work. Gamma never screws up. So, why was he so worked up about the younger segment?
Finally, Zandik was thrown out of Beta's workstation. The kid looked a right mess. It's hard for Epsilon to remember that part, as he was working on combining electro and pyro hypostasis cores at the time- which he was really into. He only stopped working because the screams stopped.
Luckily for Zandik though, Gamma came around the corner just as it had happened. He gasped slightly; no normal person would have been able to hear it. Then, he carefully approached Zandik, who was shaking on the floor. He wasn't crying, though. He just looked so angry.
"Zandik," he said in a hushed voice. The younger's expression softened as it so often did whenever Gamma was around. "Come on."
Gamma lifted his bloodied body up into his arms. His coat was grasped by a shaking hand, staining it with blood. Gamma didn't even blink. He only carried Zandik back into his room. The younger eventually stopped shaking and his head lolled lifelessly against Gamma's shoulder.
Epsilon observed silently from the shadows.
Gamma? Being gentle? Did he install some malware?
Wait. Ohhh, Epsilon gets it. Zandik is Gamma's favorite.
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Delta remembers the first time Zandik was sent on a mission.
If you could even call it that, really. It was more of a milk run. A test, to see if he was competent enough to be used in the future.
He had been carefully instructed by Prime (trusting Zandik wouldn't run away) to go out to Fontaine and fetch him a few subdetection units. It was an easy task- Delta could've done it blindfolded and with his hands behind his back.
But of course, this was Zandik, and naturally, he would run into a few problems.
Prime waited eagerly in the "living room" (it was really just the biggest room in the lab where everyone hung out on break) clutching his intercom. Naturally, Gamma was present as well. Delta noticed he and Zandik shared a rather deeper bond than the other segments. It was probably just because he was new, or something.
Delta was only there because he was eager to see Prime's rage once Zandik failed.
The intercom buzzed, indicating the boy was about to speak.
"Uhm, I've run into a bit of a problem."
Naturally, Delta called it.
"What? What kind of problem?" Prime barked.
"See, uh, there was a lot of treasure hoarders. Like, a lot. They tried to jump me because they said my clothes looked expensive and I must be rich or something? I mean, they just kept coming. Anyways, um. They're all dead. The Marechaussee Phantom is hunting me down."
Silence.
"What?!"
"Oh, Gods. The Chief Justice is here."
"WHAT?!"
Delta bursted out into laughter. Leave it to Zandik to complicate an easy mission. Gamma, however, looked a little pale. Huh. Wonder why that could be.
"Get the fuck out of there!" Prime hissed.
"I can't!" Zandik shot back. "I'm kind of...in a tree. They're saying it might be the worst massacre Fontaine has ever seen."
Gamma sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...should I kill them?"
Prime took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "No, you've done enough killing for today. How far away is the Phantom?"
"Well, after I killed the treasure hoarders, I heard them coming so I jumped off a cliff and landed into a tree," Zandik paused. Shuffling could be heard. "They can't see me because of the leaves. I think the cliff is about... forty-nine meters?"
Gamma looked as if he was going to have a heart attack. "forty-nine meters? Why the fuck would you jump off?"
"Oh, yeah I got your units, too!" Zandik chirped, as if nothing was wrong. "Shit, wait! I think they're coming down here!"
"By the Tsaritsa..." Prime and Gamma groaned in unison.
One thing about cloning yourself was the constant harmony. It gets kind of freaky after a while.
"He's so screwed!" Delta giggled.
"Wait, I have an idea. When they come down here, they'll likely take a path around the back of the cliff, which leaves me out of sight. I'm sure I can get away fast enough." Zandik said more to himself.
"Just don't get caught, yeah?" Gamma said.
There was silence for a bit. Then the rustling of leaves and a loud thump. The three segments waited in anticipation. Then, fast footsteps. It sounded like Zandik was running.
"Holy shit, holy shit," Zandik muttered to himself. Delta listened to him running for a few more minutes, until he finally slowed down.
Zandik burst into laughter. The other segments let out sighs of relief. If Zandik was caught, Prime would be thrown out of the Fatui, probably killed too, and the rest of the segments would be melted down. It wasn't because they cared about Zandik's safety, really.
Well, maybe Gamma does, if the way he dug his nails into his palms earlier says anything. But then again, maybe Gamma really didn't want to be melted down. Yeah, that was probably it.
"Oh, man!" Zandik's exasperated laughter filled the room. "They didn't even realize... haha, they weren't even close! They went in the complete opposite direction!"
"Yes, yes, that's lovely, Zandik. Return home this instant." Prime commanded. Zandik's laughter died down.
"Yeah, I'm coming, old man."
Delta was very surprised that Prime never deactivated him for that. The rest of the segments soon gathered in the room, all awaiting Zandik's return.
"What if he doesn't come back?" Zeta hissed in Gamma's ear in attempt to get a rise out of him. If the Zeta-shaped hole in the wall said anything, it definitely worked.
"Come now, Gamma. He's only teasing you because Zandik is your favorite~" Epsilon's melodic voice spoke. Delta might've imagined the faint blush on his cheeks as the segment resumed his seat rather dramatically.
"He's not my favorite! I hate all of you equally!" Gamma shot back.
Is that what was going on?
A few hours later, the mechanical door of Prime's lab slid open, revealing a very bloody Zandik. Delta could barely distinguish his hair from his eyes. His once-green robes were now a rather ugly shade of crimson; in fact, there was hardly any green left at all. There was blood on his face, his chest, his hair, his shoes, you name it- it was everywhere.
When he raised his hand holding up a sack of subdetection units with a grin, his sleeve rolled down enough to reveal his arm was bloodied to the elbow. Even the sack was covered in the red substance. When Zandik saw no one was smiling back, he only tilted his head as if to ask what's wrong?
"...what the fuck?" Omega gasped.
"Zandik, you look..." Even Zeta seemed at a loss for words.
Delta swerved his head around to witness a horrified Gamma. Since his mask wasn't on, he got a good view of his pupils blown wide and his mouth open in shock.
Yeah, that looked about right.
"Did I do something wrong? Are you guys malfunction-"
"Zandik, what the fuck happened to you?!" Gamma's voice rose above the others. He made a confused face before looking down in an ohhh.
"Oh, this? Don't worry, it isn't mine." He said with his sharp-toothed grin. Gamma seemed to deflate as his face relaxed into that of relief.
"...What kind of subdetection units did you have him getting?" Beta asked suspiciously. His question was not answered.
"Remember I told you guys about the treasure hoarders? I didn't have time to clean up."
"I thought it was only a camp of them... Zandik, just how many did you kill?" Prime's voice lowered into what Delta liked to call his "detective voice."
"Uh... let's see... I lost count after the forty-first-"
"THE WHAT!?" Gamma shouted.
"I told you, they just kept coming! I guess I stumbled on their secret lair or something."
For a brief second, a hint of pride flashed over Prime's face before he replaced it with his carefully constructed mask- and not the one he wears over his eyes.
"Zandik, how can I trust you to go on a mission again if you're just going to kill people?" Prime scolded Zandik like he was a child- it was rather amusing.
"I didn't just kill people! Look," he tossed the bloody sack to Prime. "I got double what you asked."
Prime opened the sack and, sure enough, the mechanical buzz of the units filled the room. Delta was actually kind of impressed.
"Hm. I suppose this is acceptable. If anything like this ever happens again, I will melt you down, turn you into a lovely teacup, and then gift you to Pantalone." Prime warned, but there was no real malice behind his words.
"Uh huh, gotcha," Zandik wasn't even paying attention anymore, he was fiddling around with the communication device. "Can I keep this?"
Prime sighed. "I suppose. Don't break it."
Zandik crossed the room over to Gamma, who he seemed to be talking animatedly with. Delta couldn't hear them too well, but he managed to pick out a few words.
"Don't scare me like that, I almost had a heart attack." Gamma uttered.
"That's not possible, your heart isn't even real..."
And the two were off down the hallway. How strange. Gamma usually gives Beta a run for his money with how antisocial he was, and yet, look at this.
But Delta knows why. Zandik is Gamma's favorite.
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Omega remembers the first project Zandik completed independently.
Actually, scratch that. Completed isn't the right word for it.
In the early days, Zandik was basically an advanced lab assistant until he received permission from Prime to conduct his own research and experimentations under one condition, the same all the others have to abide by: when commanded, drop everything and comply.
Zandik was ecstatic. Omega could imagine why. He had been nonstop ranting to Gamma about all the ideas he had. Gamma only laughed and ruffled his hair. Surprisingly, Zandik didn't bite his hand off.
(Someone would surely be missing a hand if it was anyone else.)
Omega was lucky enough to be the first to visit the youngest's new and improved personal lab. It really wasn't anything special. A few tables here and there, a vial or two, beakers, scalpels, anything you could find lying around anywhere in the greater laboratory.
However, there was one thing on Zandik's desk he couldn't deny piqued his interest.
"What's that?" He asked, pointing to a many-leaved plant growing surrounded in a glass container. It was in a pot of water with dendro cores blooming inside of the liquid. Zandik gave him a shark-toothed grin.
"Don't worry about it," he said nonchalantly.
Okay, now Omega was definitely going to worry about it. He stayed for a few more minutes before heading out. He knew he should probably tell someone, but he didn't really feel like it. He settled for checking up on Zandik's plant in a few days.
Sure enough, a few days came and went, and Omega found himself standing at Zandik's door once again. He knocked, waited a moment, and pushed open the door. Zandik was wildly conversing with Gamma over that damn plant. Omega's curiosity only deepened. The pair didn't even notice he'd entered- naturally, Omega couldn't pass up this opportunity.
He crept up behind Zandik as quietly as possible, before he was directly behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey-"
"AAH!"
Gamma instinctively moved out of the way as Zandik screamed and jumped. Unfortunately, he jumped forward...
All Omega heard was the shattering of glass before a loud explosion of green filled the room. He ducked behind a table, waiting for the smoke to clear.
All he could hear was Zandik's strained coughing. Oh, this wasn't going to end well for him, was it? Gamma's furious gaze pierced through the smog.
"What the fuck, Omega?" He snarled. Omega only laughed nervously, slowly backing away from the rage radiating from the other. Luckily, before Gamma could deactivate him, he was distracted by Zandik's pained groan. Faster than he had ever seen the other run before, Gamma was at Zandik's side.
The boy was lying face-down and sprawled out on the floor. He twitched every so often. This might be a small cause for concern, Omega mused.
Suddenly, he started laughing hysterically. Gamma visibly jumped, retracting the hand he had placed on his back.
Oh, never mind. He was fine.
More importantly, a damaged vial rolled towards Omega's feet. It still contained traces of dendro, though it was currently spilling out onto the floor. It must have been part of whatever experiment Zandik was attempting to conduct...he decided to be picked it up and inspect it. Wait a minute, he had seen this liquid back at the Akademiya a long time ago-
"Oh, Archons," Gamma groaned. He must have known whatever Zandik put in that plant wasn't any good. Zandik rolled over, clutching his sides and laughing like someone had just told him the funniest joke in the world. His face was flushed a deep red, and his pupils were so dilated his eyes might have well been pitch-black.
"What's up with him?" Omega decided to ask, even though he knew full well what was up with him.
"Ga~mma~" Zandik sang. His arms wrapped around the segment's neck. Gamma visibly froze. He didn't make a single move to throw Zandik off... what the fuck?
"Zandik, what's wro-"
Gamma didn't even finish his sentence before Zandik seized his face and pulled him in closer to... kiss him?! Omega's jaw dropped to the floor, and he could hear the vial he was holding shatter on the ground.
And the most surprising part? He didn't even try to push Zandik off. Instead, he was ravaging the boy's mouth like his life depended on it. The moans the pair made were absolutely obscene. Omega finally pulled himself out of his shock after Zandik pushed Gamma's mask to the ground. The look in the older's eyes was so hungry it actually sent chills down Omega's spine.
"What the actual fuck?!" He shouted.
Shocked, Gamma tore himself away from the other like he'd been stung. Zandik seemed to finally realize the other presence in the room, drunkenly turning his head towards him. "Hi, Omega. When did you get there...?"
Yes, he understood what that plant was. However, he didn't expect this.
He sighed, pinching his nose between his fingers. He did not have the energy to deal with this. "Okay... I'm calling Prime. Stay put, Zandik. I don't even want to know about whatever you two are." He said, pointedly ignoring Gamma's murderous glare.
He exited the damaged room as swiftly as possible. His mind was moving at a million miles an hour. So many questions left unanswered. He had heard whispers around the lab, but he was convinced it wasn't true.
Whatever rumors circulated, one thing was for sure- Zandik was a hell of a lot more than just Gamma's "favorite".
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Beta remembered that he was the last one to figure it out.
As the oldest, he was essentially Prime's right-hand man. A confidant, if you will. So there he was, hauling two hundred pounds worth of whatever-the-hell-was-in-that-box down to Prime's personal quarters. Luckily, he was strong.
Quote: he was strong.
He really couldn't even walk down the hallway without one of those children somehow catching his attention. His enhanced ears picked up a very distinct sound from the fourth door on the right. A very distinct sound, indeed. Beta paused. It couldn't be...
A breathy moan pierced through the silence. So it was...
The "noises" were coming from Gamma's room. Beta figured he must have someone over, or maybe Pantalone decided to drop by again. He regained his composure and continued his stroll, trying his hardest to ignore the rather distracting creak of the headboard.
"Hahh, fuck," They moaned again. Beta paused. That sounded like Gamma, but much lighter, carefree. Younger...
No. It couldn't be.
Abandoning all dignity, curiosity ate at Beta's nonexistent soul as he pressed his ear against the door.
"Gamma!" A whiny voice called. He knew that whiny voice.
"Shh, you're doing so good," Gamma murmured. A whimper in response.
Holy shit. If Gamma was in there, and there was someone else that sounded like Gamma in there, it was impossible to deny... that was definitely Zandik in there with him.
Of course, everyone had their suspicions about them, but seriously? His hand twitched, itching to call Prime. But then again, that might result in the two getting deactivated. They were rather useful assets...
Suddenly, the creaking grew louder. A groan of "Zandik," left Gamma's lips. Well, that confirms it. Beta felt the box slipping from his grasp, but he didn't much care.
He needed a drink.
He mechanically made his way back to their "living room" where he knew Delta kept all the good wine. He slammed the door open, his mind running faster than his artificial senses could keep up with.
There, on the couch, sat Zeta, Epsilon, Delta, and Omega, all drinking rather heavily. The room was fairly heavy considering the half-empty bottle of wine compared with the other three strewn about on the floor. Delta's gaze met his.
"You found out too, huh?"
Yes, he did. Zandik is, in fact, Gamma's favorite.