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Ever since his creation, Zahir was quick to learn everything Dottore asked him to do.
The first order he received was to hand him a tray of tools. The newly created “failed” segment of Pantalone paid close attention to everything the doctor did, that’s how he learned how to set up an IV, how to draw blood samples, how to use the many tools at their disposal, what every drug and component in the lab did…
It eventually culminated in a situation where Dottore needed a specific medicine that they had ran out of, but Zahir managed to create a similar substance using only what was available that worked just as well if not even better.
That's when Dottore decided to test Zahir’s capabilities.
It started with simple requests.
“Make a painkiller”
“Make a sedative”
“Make an analgesic”
Then it went to some more precise things.
“Make an anti-parasitic antibiotic”
“Make an antihistamine that can be used during pregnancy”
Those were a bit more challenging, but Zahir delivered perfect concoctions after some research nonetheless.
“Make something that can kill me”
Zahir thought his master had finally lost it. Of course, he could easily make some sort of poison that would kill him in a matter of seconds if he wanted a quick death or hours if he wanted to suffer or even days if he wanted to be tortured.
But how would Zahir continue to live if he killed his master? The rest of the Fatui would be quick to execute him for that and in the highly unlikely chance that they let him live, he was only a few months old at that point, with no memory of his prime's life up to the point that was chosen for his creation, he wouldn't have the slightest idea of how to go on with his life.
And so, after mulling his words over for a while and thinking of a loophole, he started researching on how to kill his master “safely”.
It took him one week of reading and another week of experimenting with the subjects Dottore considered expendable.
The doctor was curious about his assistant's reaction. The boy was too submissive to reject his request but at the same time he was too innocent to kill someone.
Or so he thought.
He was surprised to see how some of his less interesting subjects had died thanks to Zahir’s experiments. Just a couple of them but it didn't change the fact that Zahir, his young, innocent assistant, had killed people without hesitation it seemed.
That's when he realized, if it weren’t for the particular circumstances of Zahir’s existence, Dottore could have died a long time ago as a form of justice.
Then, the day finally arrived when Zahir came up to the doctor and presented his latest concoction…
Something that will kill Dottore…
Thinking about his life up to that point and considering Zahir’s progress throughout the week, he gladly accepted Zahir’s “poison” and ingested it in one go. After all, if he died, the people he killed would have justice and he would no longer have to deal with his annoying coworkers, and if he didn't he could give Zahir a pat on the back and tell him to try harder next time.
He felt a strange mix of pride and disappointment as his consciousness began to fade. Proud of his creation for being so skilled and obedient, but disappointed that he would consider killing his own creator. His heartbeat began to slow down, everything was too bright, and suddenly he was gone.
“Time of death: 13:04”
It was alright.
He couldn't blame Zahir.
He literally asked for this.
…
Was it really 13:04?
It seemed a little earlier.
When Dottore came to, it was already late at night. His heartbeat was getting faster by the second until a shaky hand went to adjust a pump attached to his jugular and his heartbeat stabilized, still a little faster than a regular resting heart rate but it wasn't going any faster.
Finally he took in his surroundings.
He was in his bedroom, laying on his bed, with an IV drip on his hand, next to him was a clearly nervous Zahir trying to keep his composure as he wrote down on his clipboard.
“Time of revival: 22:28”
“...Revival?”
“...You didn't specify how long you had to be dead for…”
Dottore barked out a laugh at his assistant’s antics.
Looking back at his latest experiments, it wasn’t that the poison had failed to kill them, it was just that it worked perfectly.
“So how did you do it?”
“I slowed down your heartbeat until you could be considered legally dead, it took a while to reach that point but after getting there, I waited until I was sure you wouldn’t feel pain to attach an adrenaline pump to your jugular, then I started to slowly increase the dosage until your heartbeat was back to normal, but my hands were unsteady and almost gave you tachycardia…”
“It took you nine hours to attach an adrenaline pump?”
“Since you took the drug at 10:17, it took around three hours for your bpm to decrease until you were legally dead, after that I waited two hours to make sure you wouldn't feel anything, it took me about thirty minutes to attach the adrenaline pump, and I increased the dosage over the course of six hours.”
Zahir then pulled out some chewing gum and handed it to the doctor.
“This should trick your stomach into starting to work properly so you can eat sooner.”
Dottore looked at Zahir for a moment, taking in everything he did to fulfill his request without losing his mentor, and accepted the gum, giving him a pat on the head as a reward for his hard work.
“Remember how you did this, it might be useful in the future.”