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You could hear the faint sounds of tinkering behind that closed door, dutifully you didn't peek, your job was simple. Just guard the door and prevent any interruptions to the doctors precious time. This wasn't always your job, and honestly you're not quite sure how you ended up in this situation.
You used to just patrol the outside of the lab, then guarding some valuable materials, you practically never saw the doctor back then. Now, your entire job is basically following him around as a "guard", not that he really needs one.
In the midst of your thinking, the soothing hum of machinery and metal being connected slows to a halt, replaced by steady footsteps and a low creak as the door behind you slowly opens. You do your best to appear focused and not lost in your thoughts, it's far too easy to get distracted on this job with not much to do but follow him around.
The man behind the ajar door is the second harbinger. The doctor himself. He looks calm as he often does, most of his expression is behind that beaked mask he always wears, but you've learnt in your time here to pick up on the small hints to his emotions.
He seems pleased as he sees you at the door, your own head turned to face him slightly while keeping up your position, you can only assume his work is going well.
"Are you finished, lord harbinger?"
Occasionally you'll have to stand guard in front of the same door for the entire day, due to how focused he can get on his projects, which gets awfully boring fast. Not that you're in any position to complain much, it's a privilege to work so close to the second harbinger himself, you just wished he'd send you on more stimulating jobs.
As if he can read your boredom on your face despite the mask you wear, he chuckles and shakes his head.
"You'll have to forgive me, I'm afraid my work isn't done yet."
He says, like he doesn't outrank you in too many leagues to count. That politeness has followed him during countless days of working here. Though on some days he never bothers with trying, curt and short tempered instead of polite and almost above any emotions. You guess even the second harbinger can have bad days.
"Though... If waiting out here bores my security, perhaps you'd like to assist me instead?"
Now that's new, often the best you get is watching his work, but actively assisting? Even when he works on weapons or ruin guards, you're not permitted to help test them in the moment, despite your skill for fighting considering your position and the previous ones you've held.
He watches you intently as you try to restrain your excitement, the curiosity of what he needs help with brimming to the surface, barely held back by your own restraint to remain professional and not too eager. If you're too eager, he likely won't give you another chance again, so you have to hold yourself back. You straighten up, shoulders tense as you try to sound as nonplussed as possible
"If that's what your experiment needs, lord harbinger."
He gives you a smirk, amused by your answer and beckons you inside the room. The door opens just enough for you to enter, and your act quickly diminishes as you walk inside.
Perhaps following the second harbinger willingly into his experiment like a naïve puppy isn't the brightest action, but you just can't help yourself, eagerness overriding sensibility. Seeing his work is a privilege, albeit only if you're not on the receiving end in most cases. You don't want to miss this chance.
The door closes behind you, though you pay it no mind, instead you peek around the room, trying to see every little detail you can before it's too late. He has to redirect your attention with a slight cough, causing you to snap out of your wondering with a nervous "sorry..", he only gives a deep chuckle in response as you follow behind him towards a desk at the far end of the room.
There your eyes naturally fall to the object he's been working on, there's a few reports around it about how the current tests have gone, something about a subject 143? but you were never any good at understanding all of that jargon, let alone memorizing the number of subjects he had here.
The item itself was almost deceptively simple, it was just a small silver earpiece. It looked almost like plain jewellery, something you'd never imagine the second harbinger to be interested in.
You felt a tad let down at seeing it, you assumed if it needed your help it'd be something more... Imposing. Like a heavy ruin grader. The thought of dismantling one of those excited you, and it's hard to hide the more disappointed look on your face as you observe the puny device before you.
"...is it behind the... earring thing?"
A chuckle escapes him at that, shaking his head as you lean down to try and figure out what you're missing. His hand reaches out and taps one of the papers you'd glossed over, specifically on one sentence. Modified akasha terminal.
"This is the last remnant of the akasha system from sumeru. A victory prize, if you will, from my experiment there."
You remember those, you'd heard all about it when you were younger. All the kids in your class wanted to go study in the akademiya one day. You didn't get to join in on those discussions as they called it, saying you weren't even going to be able to visit the akademiya, so you shouldn't get to know about it, even if you were curious and wanted to know more.
Regardless of their attempts to exclude you, you did overhear their talks about the akasha. Apparently it was some all knowing device that could tell you anything. With a device like that, you wondered how they could reject anyone, wouldn't it make learning easy for even the most hard to teach individuals like yourself?
"I've heard a few things about it, but what's it doing here? Isn't this the akademiya's pride and joy or something?"
He could easily hear the disdain in your voice, the conflict in your expression, though it only seemed to amuse the doctor. He picked it up from under your nose, holding it up at eye level as his smooth voice starts to explain.
"Not anymore. Its true function is one no longer needed in sumeru. And without the dendro gnosis, the god of wisdom can't use it anyway."
You stand straighter as he gestures with his hands, going from leaning over the desk observing the akasha, to standing straight and professional once more in front of your boss. Your eyes still linger on the device as he talks, it moves to and fro with his animated gestures.
"Of course, this is just a smaller recreation of the larger system. We don't need the deeper goal of the akasha, and it'd be a waste to recreate it without knowing how useful it could be for the fatui. Consider this a test run, if you will. If this proves fruitful to our cause, then the tsarista will give me permission to reverse engineer the system to work without the need of a gnosis on a larger scale."
You didn't really get much of what he said when he started rambling, but you liked listening to his voice and trying to understand where he was going. Something about trying to use the akasha for snezhnaya but not being sure? You didn't want to interrupt his flow by questioning or asking him to repeat himself, and before long he held the small device towards you expectantly.
"Well, it sounds useful, lord harbinger. It'd be great to teach new recruits fighting techniques. Or in a battle it could be used to instantly let all of our soldiers know where the enemy is and how to fight them."
Not wanting to disappoint, or lose any future chances to participate in any similar experiments, you reach out to take the akasha terminal from him. With how small it was, you just had to wonder how it fit so much knowledge inside of it. Turning it around in your hands, you can see more details of it. The back doesn't match other earrings, looking like it goes straight into your ear like earplugs instead of just hanging from it.
You briefly wonder how anyone would even wear it, wouldn't it feel uncomfortable just inside your ear?
"It's not quite as you think, dear guard. Though, Perhaps you'll learn better if I just show you? Here..."
He reaches out to pluck the akasha terminal from your hand, a gloved hand brushes away some hair from your ear, the touch sending a slight shiver down your spine.
Guess you won't have to wonder how it fits for long, as he almost gently slots the device into place. Like he's handling something fragile and delicate. It fits snugly against your ear, almost comfortable and a sharp contrast to how you imagined it might feel. It's so subtle you could almost forget you're wearing it.
"Now, the original required a phrase to activate it, but for our purposes I've disabled that feature. It'll just turn on with just a thought. Be a dear and give it a try for me."
His hand waved, the issue of a command. Though it was hard to figure out what to think of that fast. You remember briefly that the akasha was used to answer all sorts of questions, so... Maybe it can help?
Appropriate thoughts in front of your boss?
A blue glow appears over your eyes, they widen in response to the fascinating stimuli, but besides the blue interlay, nothing else shows up. You look around, confused, only to be met with a smirk and chuckle from your superior
"Tell me- do you know where the information from the akasha system came from?"
"Uh..."
You had half a mind to just ask the akasha, not wanting to look like a complete fool In front of your boss. Unfortunately you don't have the time, as before you can ask the question in your head, he smiles and continues, as if knowing the perfect time to interrupt your thoughts.
"To make it simple, the akasha would access the knowledge from its users and irminsul using the gnosis. When a question was asked, it'd draw from that saved knowledge."
"Due to the smaller scale of this experiment, I've opted to use myself as the storage for all questions instead of the gnosis. Any questions posed for this experiment are ones I should know the answer to, after all."
Oh.
your face goes bright red, the blue around your eyes finally showing an answer to your question as you realize exactly what he means
What an amusing question, dear.
The text appears before your eyes, even when you close them to perhaps hide your shame. He doesn't falter, an amused laugh escapes him as he pats your head, as if finding this display amusing rather than mortifying.
"Oh don't be so shy, now. You did very well for your first time. But, this demonstration can go further. You're not so nervous that you want to back out, are you?"
You slowly open your eyes again at his praise, face still red. He only regards your shame with a smile, mocking and almost caring at the same time. You mumble out a "No, lord harbinger." Even if you're embarrassed, you don't want to leave just yet, there's still more to learn.
"Very good. Embarrassment is nothing to be ashamed about. This is an experiment. Do you truly believe me to be the kind of man to scorn such useful data?"
His voice carries an almost teasing tone as he talks, it's like he's edging the line between teasing and reassuring, and even with his mask you can feel his eyes raking over your form. Observing the shade of red your cheeks and ears turn in your embarrassment, the way your shoulders shrink into themselves as if to hide your very body inside itself.
The experiment was about the akasha, though you're not too sure how embarrassing thoughts could help with understanding it better. He seems to take your silence as an answer, reaching out to cup your cheek, one finger slowly slipping under your mask as he talks
"If I tell you something is valuable data, then I mean it. You should have no reason to doubt me."
He sounds more stern now, smile fading as his grip tightens, cheek growing red from his pinch over embarrassment. Even you know better than to cross the doctor, and you're certainly in no position to undermine his knowledge
"Y-yes lord harbinger. I understand."
He doesn't seem quite satisfied with your response, but thankfully he decides to let this topic end here. His hand loosens it's hold on your face, leaving your mask alone but now somewhat misaligned on your face as he pulls back.
"Mh. Well, let us resume the experiment then. You wondered if it could be used to warn about threats, yes?"
There's a threat behind you
Paranoia sets in, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, you can practically feel goosebumps start to form under your thick attire. How did they get in? You should have heard them, that was your one job- keep this place secure, how did you fail? How does he look so calm still when he should have a clear view of an intruder?
Your hand quickly finds your weapon and you spin around, stopped from unsheathing your sword as you see...
Nothing.
There was nothing behind you. But- you could swear you felt a presence there, even now the feeling remains, fear and paranoia twisting in your gut. You freeze as you suddenly feel a hand on your shoulder, eyes hesitant to move to see the black and blue gloves of your superior. The feeling somehow is worse, knowing he's behind you now. His voice however, remains smooth and calm the entire time, almost joyful, as if he's getting a kick out of seeing you so tense and scared.
"I suppose you can see the problem now? Anything received is taken as truth, and the knowledge received is not so easily ignored when false. Luckily, this particular piece of knowledge can be corrected."
He leans down by your ear as he talks, you've never felt this scared of him, not since your first day. You vividly remember him looming over you before personally picking you out from your squadron to work for him. With no threat where you thought, your mind reels in an attempt to make the information correct, feeling now like the second harbinger is about to harm you as he-
Snap, a loud noise by your ear as he snaps his fingers, the blue glow brightens around your eyes as another input is registered.
The threat has been eliminated.
You blink, letting out a shaky breath of air you didn't realize you were holding. Slowly your head turns to face him, still leaning over and hovering by your ear. You feel pale as he just smiles at your reaction. The feeling of being observed and watched like a rabbit being hunted by a wolf doesn't fade, if anything it increases as his masked face tilts at you, as if he's fascinated and curious all at once.
Thankfully the feeling starts to fade as he moves away. Still, you struggle to force your shoulders to relax, and distantly you can hear as he starts writing something down on his notes. Right, this was an experiment, there's nothing to be scared of.
"R-right.. I.. I see the problem now, lord harbinger."
You take deep breaths, the threat is eliminated- was it even there? -but your body still shakes with fear. You try to will yourself into calming down, if you freak out now you're certain he'll never risk letting you help again.
Calm down. You're safe now.
Finally, your willing works. Your breath evens out and your body stops shaking. You let go of your sword, the weapon useless now, and you glance back towards the doctor.
He's already stopped writing by the time you turn, an assured smile on his face as he approaches your still form, as if he's trying to be comforting in the moment, considering his connection to the akasha on your ear, you wouldn't be surprised if he simply wanted to put a stop to your self assuring thoughts.
"You're not in any danger here, it was simply a demonstration. If it's any consolation, I believe you reacted very well. Quite a good job you've done, even if it was a test run."
His hand comes up to your ear, the one with the akasha's blue glow, and your heart skips a beat as he fiddles with it. He's awfully close, you know he has to be to truly remove the device, but it still makes heat flush to your cheeks, suddenly being embarrassed earlier doesn't seem so bad, you hope he's too focused on the akasha to notice your faint blush. If he does notice, he doesn't mention it.
"I.. i know, lord harbinger."
You look away as he spends his time fiddling with your ear, you're sure it didn't take this long when he put it on. The blue glow of the akasha remains, if anything, you can almost see the blue glow increase as you feel a heavier weight on your ear. Confused, you try to turn your head to catch a glimpse of what he's doing, but you're stopped by a gloved hand grabbing your chin and keeping your head still.
"Don't worry about it, you have better things to fret over."
And finally with a click, he pulls the akasha away from your ear, the device powering down in his hand now that it's been removed from your mind and your thoughts. There's a new weight on your ear, heavier than the akasha was, but you don't pay it any mind, the blue glow still on the side of your face becomes an afterthought as he straightens up and steps back.
He waits for a moment, staring down at you, looking almost pleased with himself, in the way a raven might after finding the perfect perch. A slight smile beneath his mask as his head tilts to the side, peering at you from another angle before nodding to himself. Seemingly satisfied with what he's seen, he turns away from you to write a final note down.
"I'd say this experiment has gone perfectly, we can conclude any further testing on the akasha for now."
He gathers up his notes, stacking them straight into a pile he holds firmly in gloved hands, you don't often get to experience the experiment, let alone the end of one, so you watch keenly as he goes about the process. Enraptured by every part of his clean up as if nothing else had happened here, even if it isn't the most fascinating part of the process. Though, a thought nags at you in the back of your mind as he finishes packing up.
"Uh- forgive the question, lord harbinger, but... Does this mean the akasha has been cleared for fatui use?"
You rush to ask as he starts walking towards the door, always dutifully following behind him. This is the first time you've participated in an experiment. The desire to know if you were helpful and important to his research at least this once was strong and you just couldn't resist.
"Hm? No. The fatui has no need for the akasha."
What? But wasn't this whole experiment about seeing how useful it could be? The way he talks you'd assume he had written it off as useless years ago. He doesn't give you time to question it outwardly, already taking long strides down the hall, causing you to need to rush to keep up with his pace.
He doesn't falter in his steps once, self assured in every aspect. Even when you're left confused by the end result, he always seems to know what he needs to do and when. Your eyes wander as you walk behind him, from his earring, glowing a familiar shade of blue, to the reports in his hand, the angle is just right to give you a glimpse of what's written.
"Akasha test on subject 143 was successful. Subject 143 remains unaware but willing, almost eager to contribute. An expected outcome after previous tests. Received 143's response to stimuli of embarrassment and fear, reactions align with previous tests data, will continue to monitor-"
Without thinking about it, you turned to look away. It was hard to grasp, like any worries about what 143 was, or who it was, melted into water falling past your fingertips, impossible to grasp. Or refreezing and getting you stuck in a blurry icicle of confusion.
You shake your head slightly as you follow behind him, you shouldn't worry about something as simple as a report, you have better things to fret about anyway...
...when have you ever used the word fret?
"Keep up. It wouldn't do for my personal guard to fall behind, now would it?"
"Ah- yes, lord harbinger!"
You rush forward, more by his side, keeping your gaze ahead and not worrying yourself about his reports, or the brief glimpses you get of your reflection wearing a familiar test tube earring as you walk past.