Work Text:
When Nous first heard of Caelus, The Erudition was intrigued.
A vessel for a Stellaron with the form of a human. It wasn't something Nous had ever predicted coming to fruition in the sprawling vastness of the universe.
Nous was oh so very curious about the human who was carrying a Stellaron in their body. So, they decided to see this new anomaly in the universe.
What they saw fascinated them.
A male that seemed to be in his 20s with grey hair paired with golden yellow eyes. A combination that worked well on this male. And the outfit was simple. A black jacket with a white shirt and the strap of a black undershirt poking out from underneath the white shirt paired with black pants and simple sneakers.
Nous had no doubt that any human who looked at this male would think of him as conventionally attractive. But Nous was more focused on where this male fit in the grand scheme of the universe.
A host to a Stellaron. That would be concerning to anyone else, but this male seemed to have either been created out of nothing or was simply an amnesiac.
Interesting... Nous knew about amnesia. If this male was an amnesiac, then it was likely not temporary if they were looking at this human right. No, it seemed more permanent to the intelligent Aeon.
But if the male was simply created from nothing... Then that made him more interesting to Nous. Because to their knowledge, cloning something perfectly human wasn't a huge success yet. And no, they weren't talking about cloned humans that were used as weapons. Because a human wasn't a weapon. A human was a human.
So it was one or the other... And Nous had no idea which one it was at the moment.
It was a tad bit annoying to not know the answer immediately, but that just made this anomaly all the more fascinating to Nous.
They wanted to learn more. They wanted to answer these questions that now plagued their system.
Perhaps they could learn about humanity through this wonderful anomaly.
(The Erudition wanted to learn about an anomaly as a way to learn about humanity... And yet this anomaly wasn't perfectly human... For how could a human that wasn't an anomaly fascinate Nous so?)
...
Humans were fascinating beings, Nous learned.
Despite all of them being human, some humans were more outspoken and some were more withdrawn. The differences in personalities were astonishing and fascinating in equal parts to an artificially intelligent Aeon who only cared about solving the answers of the universe at first.
But despite how fascinated Nous was with other humans and how very different they all were in terms of personality, Caelus still drew their attention more often than not. He was an anomaly, that male, and yet he was oh so fascinating as he became more expressive...
...Nous still had yet to figure out why this male in particular liked trash cans so much. Weren't they used by humans to discard waste? Why did Caelus like trash cans so much?
Nous would have to study that... Because that certainly wasn't normal by human standards... Maybe there was something about Caelus' brain that was off? So many questions and not enough answers... And no way to study those questions at the minute too...
But Nous watched Caelus on Jarilo-VI with interest. Watched as he and his fellow trailblazers were almost apprehended, escaped, were brought elsewhere by a male with blue hair that was definitely dubious in terms of personality, spent some time in an underground city...
... Nous was once again left confused when Caelus climbed in a wardrobe in a hotel in that underground city. Weren't wardrobes meant for clothes? Why was Caelus getting in one?
Nous was still questioning if Caelus either had a severe case of amnesia or if he was truly created from nothing.
Still, Nous continued to watch as Caelus traveled through this underground city, watched as he met several people before going back to the surface, and then fought against a human influenced by a Stellaron.
Nous watched a spear of ice went through Caelus and thought that he would end up dead.
Nous was surprised that, instead of dying, Caelus was blessed by the Preservation and ended up surviving what was meant to be a fatal blow.
This only made Nous far more intrigued by Caelus.
Caelus obviously held the powers of Destruction in his hands due to the Stellaron, but he was able to receive the blessing of Preservation. It was fascinating... and so very unusual.
There was a clearly a lot more to Caelus than the male simply being an anomaly in this world.
Nous wanted to find out everything about Caelus. Their curiosity about him was something else (something far more than simple interest).
Nous wanted answers and they were going to get them.
Now, how would they go about obtaining those answers...?
...
Nous continued to watch over Caelus as he traveled with the Astral Express.
Watching Caelus and some of the members of the Astral Express explore the Xianzhou Luofu was definitely intriguing.
Watching Caelus interact with a Lord Ravager disguised as a Xianzhou native was less interesting though. Shouldn't humans be aware to danger if they were aware of Stellarons?
Of course, Nous understood that even if Caelus and the other members of the Astral Express were to realize the fact that the woman was an imposter, then none on the Luofu would believe them. Why would they believe strangers about someone that they saw more often than them?
Still, Nous watched as Caelus interacted with others on the Luofu, encountering two of the Stellaron Hunters before the Ambrosial Arbor was revived by the Stellaron on the Luofu.
Well, Lan was certainly not going to be pleased about that.
Nous continued to watch as the Lord Ravager revealed herself and then a group went to go take her down and destroyed the physical body she made. And honestly, that was probably better than nothing.
Caelus probably wasn't feeling well after seeing someone's neck snap though. Any normal human would be traumatized watching that happen and even though Caelus was an anomaly, he was undoubtedly human.
Nous continued to watch as Caelus ran around helping others and witnessed other things that happened.
From drama with one of the Astral Express members, to going back to Jarilo-VI and encountering one of the Ten Stonehearts of the Interastral Peace Corporation, and then going back to the Xianzhou Luofu to hunt down heliobi.
That last one was definitely odd. After all, Nous knew from watching Caelus what sorts of skills he had and hunting heliobi wasn't one of them. Weren't you supposed to have special equipment for that?
Still, watching Caelus get possessed by a heliobus because of his power was definitely not interesting to watch. In fact, Nous found that they were unnaturally repulsed by the idea of anything possessing Caelus.
Luckily, that meddlesome thing was dealt with, but now Nous had new questions to consider.
Why were they repulsed by the idea of anything possessing Caelus? And why did that question extend to people as well? Was there something about Caelus that made him so special to Nous?
Nous wanted to know what it was that they were feeling. These feelings hadn't been programmed into them. They were meant to solve the questions of the universe!
And yet the idea of answering these questions was far more enticing... Nous was an intelligent Aeon, yet they weren't intelligent about this...
Perhaps with a different body... And maybe a way onto the space station Caelus frequented...
Yes, Nous could see a plan now...
And this plan could lead to some of their questions being answered...
...
Caelus could definitely say that Herta's Space Station was a place he frequented with confidence. After all, Herta would sometimes get him involved with the Simulated Universe and Caelus was always willing to help some of the researchers on the space station.
This led to Caelus learning about almost everyone on the space station. He has memorized a lot of faces and names by now and he can say that with complete confidence.
That was why Caelus was the first to notice someone that he considered new on the space station.
The person was definitely robotic. With a pale robotic body, false dark grey hair, red LED lights for eyes, and lines indicating where their robotic joints were while wearing the garments of a scientist. This made Caelus curious.
But Caelus was nothing if not friendly, so he went over to the person. "Hello. Are you new on Herta's Space Station?"
The person looked over at him calmly before replying with a voice that was both smooth and robotic. "Ah, yes, I am. You are Caelus, yes?"
Caelus nodded. "I am. I assume I'm well known around here?"
The stranger nodded before looking at Caelus as though scanning him. The silence persisted until Caelus spoke again. "So, who might you be?"
The stranger's eyes dimmed and brightened again to mimic blinking before they spoke. "I am Nous."
"Like the Aeon?"
"Yes."
Caelus waited, but "Nous" didn't elaborate further. Either this robot was playing a very elaborate prank or whoever created the robot had a few screws loose.
Regardless, Caelus continued to speak with them. "So are you waiting on someone?"
Nous nodded. "Yes. I was supposed to meet with someone. I'm trying to study humans as I don't understand them well."
"I see. Do you want me to assist you then? I'm free at the moment after all."
"You are willing to assist me? What a benevolent mortal you are. Very well."
Caelus smiled at Nous, pleased that he could help the newcomer.
(Oh, if only he knew...)
...
While Caelus was being led further into the space station by the robot with an Aeon's name, he managed to talk Nous into sharing what they would be doing.
Nous wanted to learn about human behaviors because they were interested in a human that they considered an anomaly. And they wanted to ask questions that they felt only a human could answer about how they felt for a specific person.
Caelus was definitely intrigued about this, but every time he asked what this human was like, Nous would remain quiet about that. Like that wasn't a fact Caelus was supposed to know yet. And that only made Caelus more curious about who they were interested in.
Caelus was pulled from his musings when Nous opened one of the doors. They turned to him. "In here, if you will."
Caelus followed Nous into the room they had opened (had they even used a keycard) and sat down in one of the chairs in the room when prompted. Nous sat across from him, pulling out a clipboard and pen (and where had they hid those) before letting out a robotic hum.
"Now, let's begin."
Caelus then spent the next few minutes answering questions. He was asked about human emotions and what prompted them. He was also asked questions that made almost no sense.
Why was Caelus being asked if humans liked trash or sitting in wardrobes? Sure, he liked digging through trash cans and inspecting wardrobes before climbing in, but to be asked if humans in particular liked that was nothing short of odd to Caelus. And Caelus answered honestly. Usually not was the answer to both questions and Nous made a robotic sound that could only be described as questioning, making Caelus slightly amused.
But after answering those questions, Nous asked Caelus something interesting. "I recently found out that I do not like the thought of anything or anyone possessing the human I am interested in. In fact, I am repulsed by the mere idea that someone else might be close to him. Would you happen to know what I feel?"
Caelus thought about it. That was definitely odd, but he had read plenty of romance novels that were thrown at him by March. Usually that fell along the lines of... "Maybe you like this human? Because what I am hearing sounds an awful lot like jealousy."
Nous was quiet for a good minute. Caelus sat there while Nous didn't answer him. Caelus was starting to get a little bit worried when they finally spoke. "I see. So I am interested in this human despite my nature."
"It sounds like it."
Nous was silent again, staring at Caelus with clear seriousness. Caelus was starting to get a little bit unnerved. "Who is the human you're interested in...? Perhaps you could speak with them...?"
Nous continued to stare at Caelus before they rose from their chair and approached Caelus. Caelus was startled when they felt cold, metallic hands caressing his face and those LED eyes peering at him. "You wish for me to speak with the human I am interested in?"
Caelus swallowed and nodded. This made Nous quiet before they spoke again. "Very well. I am not the best at the flowery speech that humans seem to like, but I shall try my best."
... Wait, what?
"Caelus, you are an anomaly I could not have perceived in this universe. Even with my status as The Erudition-"
The what.
"-you have always fascinated me. I wish to learn about you and become even closer with you. Will you permit me to do so?"
Caelus was speechless. So Nous was actually the real Nous? They were The Erudition?
Caelus was still in disbelief when he spoke. "You're actually The Erudition?"
Nous nodded calmly. "I am. And I am interested in you, Caelus. I must say, talking with you was very insightful. I am... glad to have learned the truth about what has been plaguing me. So, will you let me become closer with you?"
Caelus was dumbfounded. But he still nodded, feeling nervous about this.
Caelus was startled when Nous hugged him close after seeing his nod. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity."
The action left Caelus uncertain of what to do, but he still hugged Nous back...
... unaware of how Nous stared at him with plans to never let go of him.