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The decision assembled itself over time, the way complex conclusions often did for Dottore: piece by piece, each observation aligning until ignoring the pattern became statistically irrational.
The artifact had already been secured, its lattice bound in layered containment seals and insulated from further activation. Subordinates moved around the encampment in silence, packing equipment and adjusting transport routes but Dottore’s attention no longer lingered on the frozen horizon of Snezhnaya.
It lingered on the variable the artifact had introduced.
Mika. A person, occupying his space in a future.
In the projection he had witnessed, Mika did not behave like an assistant or another one of his disposable subjects. The environment around him had been altered to his presence and routines seemed to be shared between them.
That kind of inclusion was not granted without reason.
Dottore stood at the edge of the camp, coat shifting with the cold wind, and reviewed the fragments of usable information he possessed.
The layout of the room he awoke in suggested Mondstadt intervention according to his memory. The warmth and the materials down to the layout of windows and lighting. Mika’s speech patterns and accent carried the soft inflection common to knights rather than scholars or mercenaries of Snezhnaya. His posture carried training but nothing as bad as the militarized rigidity in the Fatui.
Mondstadt origin was the strongest constant.
Affiliation with the Knights of Favonius was likely. More precisely, reconnaissance or survey division seemed to suit someone like from what little he had witnessed. The tools present in the future laboratory had matched field equipment rather than administrative instruments.
If Mika existed in proximity within a future outcome, then early interaction increased probability of continuity.
Dottore adjusted his gloves.
“Change course,” he said calmly.
One of the officers turned from a supply crate. “Doctor?”
“We’re diverting to Mondstadt.”
No elaboration followed. Who would dare ask for it?
Orders were reorganized and transport routes shifted as the expedition folded into itself and reshaped.
.
The air of Mondstadt felt unguarded compared to the rigid chill of Snezhnaya, he had almost forgotten. Stone warmed by sunlight rather than frost and the wind that carried the scent of grass instead of metal and oil. Even the silence behaved differently here, not compressed but shaped by habit and familiarity.
Naturally, Dottore did not arrive openly.
Fatui presence in Mondstadt was common enough to avoid suspicion but he preferred reducing visibility regardless. His soldiers were distributed into civilian-adjacent observation roles: couriers, traders, wandering researchers, mercenaries passing through and baring insignia nor command chains visible from the surface.
The instruction he issued was concise.
“Locate Mika Schmidt and prioritize behavioral data, reduce proximity.”
Within hours, the first results returned. Mika was not difficult to find.
Which, in itself, already placed him outside the profile of secrecy-driven operatives. He followed routine rather than concealment in his endeavors, mornings began at the Knights’ headquarters, briefings and report submissions. Afternoons were spent beyond the city gates, mapping terrain, verifying travel routes, and correcting older records. Evenings returned him either to the library, the training grounds or the ramparts overlooking the surrounding region.
Dottore reviewed the earliest compiled documents in silence.
Mika Schmidt.
Subject exits quarters before sunrise.
Equipment minimal yet sufficient for extended traversal.
Prefers elevated vantage points for orientation.
Avoids unstable shortcuts.
He turned the page.
Social engagement: withdrawn but respectful.
Uses moderated tone when addressing superiors.
Maintains visual contact hesitantly, prefers less of it.
Emotional responses are somewhat contained.
He wanted more, of course. This was less than surface knowledge.
“Expand the scope,” Dottore instructed.
Thus, the study evolved.
.
He does not stand at the center but he also avoided the edges. His placement adjusted to conversation flow, keeping himself without seeking attention.
At the training grounds, his movements revealed further about his defenses. He does not overpower opponents. Instead, he adapts to the rhythm and pressure depending on who stood across from him. Against more inexperienced knights, he slowed. Against aggressive ones, he redirected instead of resisting outright.
Dottore easily marked all of it mentally.
In the city itself, Mika walks with much environmental awareness that bordered on instinctive. It fits his withdrawn behavior.
He possesses fast reaction time, he is very quick to pause for wagons or recalibrating his speed to avoid collisions without visible effort.
At night, while many knights withdrew to quarters, Mika remained awake in quieter zones. Often seen at Libraries or sometimes Ramparts. At times, he chose the edges of Mondstadt where the city loosened into open land. There, he sketchd many things, including; land, routes, structural decay, weather influence etc,.
Dottore reviewed a reproduced notebook page belonging to the young knight delivered by one of his operatives. The handwriting was neat but unembellished, the measurements inside repeated twice and the marginal annotations corrected earlier assumptions.
Dottore closed the folder slowly. Most subjects altered behavior once observed and Mika did not. This meant the soldiers had done an excellent job at keeping their distance from his subject at the very least. He will reconsider what he was going to do to them when they returned to the homeland.
Time passed and the more the days stacked into a weeks, the file thickened. Dottore’s subordinates began tracking not only what Mika did but the even the gaps between actions, ranging from response latency, environmental recalibration, social recovery intervals..
All according to Dottore's demands.
When Mika encountered strangers, he is visibly more than alarmed by it and can become withdrawn in communication. When addressed harshly, he often processed before replying. When praised, he quickly redirected attention rather than absorbing it. It aligns with what has been written of him before.
For whatever reason, the consistency disturbed Dottore more than emotional volatility would have.
Dottore stood alone in the dim room he had taken over on Mondstadt’s outskirts, notes arranged across the table like a living system of observations.
“Why you?" he murmured quietly.
No theoretical answer satisfied him, so he adjusted methodology.
He would observe directly.
—
Dottore did not approach Mika exactly. Instead, he placed himself along Mika’s routes.
On the ridges beyond Mondstadt’s gates, where grass sloped into fractured stone and wind carried the distant scent of cliffs, Dottore stood openly at the periphery of activity. Present enough to be noticed, distant enough to avoid interruption.
Dottore studied him openly, not bothering to disguise the examination in his gaze. Mika did not seem unsetted by it. If anything, he shifted his weight slightly, adjusting the strap of his satchel and glancing between Dottore and the surrounding terrain, as though deciding whether the stranger before him required caution or courtesy.
After a moment, Mika cleared his throat softly. “Um… are you surveying too? Or just traveling?" The question was gentle, laced with more curiosity than suspicion.
“Something between the two,” Dottore answered. “I find the unfamiliar regions interesting to explore."
Mika’s eyes lit just a little at that, interest surfacing through his reserved expression. “Oh. Then… you picked a good area. The land changes a lot faster out here than people expect. I mean—not in a dangerous way. Just… very quietly?”
“The quiet changes are usually the most important kind,” Dottore replied.
Mika paused, then gave a small, thoughtful nod. “Yeah. That’s true.”
He looked down at his notebook, flipping it open briefly, then closed it again as if remembering himself. “Sorry, habit. I write things down when I’m thinking.”
"It is a productive habit,” Dottore said. “What are you noting?”
“Routes,” Mika answered. “Mostly old ones, the new ones and the ones people think are safe but really aren’t anymore. Weather shifts, erosion, monster migration… it all changes where people should walk.” He gestured toward the distant ridge. “Most travelers don’t notice until someone gets hurt.."
Dottore’s gaze followed the direction of Mika’s hand. “It's good of you to prevent accidents where they could occur.”
Mika’s shoulders lifted slightly in a quiet, almost embarrassed shrug. “I try, better safe than sorry after all. It’s easier than fixing things afterward.”
There was a brief silence between them, filled only by wind passing through the tall grass and the distant sound of birds over Mondstadt’s walls. Mika shifted his stance again, then glanced back at Dottore, studying him a little more openly now.
“You are… from Snezhnaya, aren’t you?” he asked. “Your clothes…"
Dottore allowed a faint curve of amusement beneath the mask. “Good observation. You're good at your job."
Mika blinked, then smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.. occupational habit.” His hand went to scratch the back of his head.
“Don’t apologize,” Dottore said. "It's far from a bad habit."
Mika relaxed at that, some of the tension leaving his posture. He seemed more at ease now, as if no longer treating Dottore as an unknown risk but as another traveler intersecting briefly with his work.
“If you’re heading farther out,” Mika added, “the eastern slope looks harmless but it collapses easily after sunset. The light hides the cracks and a lot of people misjudge it.”
“Have you seen that happen?” Dottore asked.
Mika hesitated, then nodded. “Once. Nothing serious but… enough to remember.”
“I appreciate the warning,” Dottore replied.
Mika seemed surprised by that, eyes widening slightly before he smiled again, softer this time. “Of course. I give it to anyone who looks like they need it really.”
“As do I,” Dottore responded again, his voice softer than previously.
Another small pause and Mika glanced back toward his markers, then toward the sun as it lowered gradually across the hills. “I should finish before the sky starts to fall. It messes with distance readings.”
"I won’t keep you.”
Mika tucked his notebook under his arm again. “It was… nice meeting you. Maybe we will see each other again before you leave town?”
“The feeling is mutual,” Dottore said.
Mika gave a polite, almost shy nod. “Safe travels, then.”
He turned and walked back toward his work, boots brushing through grass, already reabsorbed into the terrain he was measuring, as if Dottore had simply been another feature of the landscape for a moment.
Dottore remained standing long after Mika moved away. The exchange had yielded little in terms of measurable data.
Though, something about it lingered. Maybe it was because, in the future he had seen, Mika had looked at him in the same way, as someone who belonged in the same space.
And that realization stayed with Dottore far longer than it logically should have.
.
That night, Dottore reviewed the compiled files again.
Mika would leave soon.
Varka’s expedition timeline pressed closer with each passing day, threatening to remove the variable from controlled proximity.
Once Mika departed, observation would degrade. Access would scatter and his control would weaken. Dottore stood near the window overlooking Mondstadt’s lights, city warmth glowing against distant hills.
“The expedition begins soon,” Dottore murmured.
His fingers curled faintly at his side.
“Unless… if I were to interfere..”
Intervention was not an emotional decision, to be clear. It was a structural type of move. If Mika was anchored in Dottore’s future, then preserving proximity increased temporal consistency.
And divergence, if chosen, could become an experiment of its own.
Dottore’s gaze remained fixed on the city as his thoughts spurred. Even he had noticed he was no longer asking what Mika represented to his future but determining how much influence he would require to keep Mika within reach.
And whether Mika would ever realize he had already become a subject long before their future had ever begun.
.
The city felt different on the morning the expedition gathered.
Mondstadt usually woke slowly, stretching into daylight with the ease blessed by their Archon but today there was haste layered beneath the calm. Knights crossed the courtyard earlier than usual, boots striking stone in steady rhythm. Their equipment crates waited near the gates and many voices carried farther in the cool air.
Dottore observed it all from the edge of the plaza.
He had already dismantled his observation network. Subordinates dispersed quietly through routes that would pull them back toward Snezhnaya. Mondstadt’s usefulness, for now, had concluded.
Only his variable remained.
Mika stood near the assembled knights, adjusting the straps of his satchel. His usual neatness had shifted into travel-readiness: heavier coat, reinforced gloves, maps secured against weather rather than desks. He spoke quietly with another knight, nodding as instructions were exchanged, his posture remaining calm despite the magnitude of the journey ahead.
Dottore watched him for several minutes before approaching.
Mika noticed him first, as before. His head lifted, pale eyes finding Dottore across the courtyard. There was no surprise this time, only a confused recognition. After the conversation had finished, Mika walked over, boots echoing softly against the stone.
“Good morning,” Mika said. “You’re up early.”
“Habit,” Dottore replied. His gaze drifted briefly over Mika’s packed equipment. “So, this great departure of the Grand Master is today.”
Mika nodded. “We leave before noon. The weather is just right as well.” He hesitated, then smiled faintly. “I just didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Nor did I expect you to be leaving so soon,” Dottore answered.
Mika shifted the strap on his shoulder, a gesture more thoughtful than nervous. “Yeah… it’s a long expedition. Grand Master Varka’s been planning it for months. We’ll be gone a while.”
“How long is ‘a while’?” Dottore asked.
Mika considered. “Months at least. Maybe longer, depending on terrain and conditions.
“You seem prepared.”
“I try to be.” Mika glanced toward the gate where knights continued organizing supplies. “It’s mostly mapping and support work but it still helps to be careful.”
There was a pause between them, not awkward but weighted. The plaza filled the space with distant voices and clinking equipment, yet the space between Dottore and Mika felt oddly insulated from it.
Mika looked at Dottore again. "Are you traveling too?” he asked.
“I am,” Dottore replied.
“Leaving Mondstadt?”
“Yes.”
Mika nodded slowly, absorbing that. “Then… if you’re heading in the same direction, you could walk with us for a bit. At least until our routes split.” His tone remained gentle, not persuasive. “The Grand Master wouldn’t mind. He’s used to strangers joining temporarily.”
The offer surprised even Dottore but he considered it. Traveling alongside Mika would continue their proximity. Even better considering their newly discovered talking terms. maybe even increase probability alignment with the future he had witnessed.
“I appreciate the invitation,” Dottore said, after a moment. “But my route might diverge earlier than yours. It would be inefficient to delay your progress.”
Mika looked faintly awkward by the refusal, though he masked it quickly. “Oh. I see.”
“But,” Dottore added, “I trust you will enjoy documenting what you encounter.”
Mika smiled slightly at that. “Of course. It.. is my job.”
“Then, good luck.”
“And you.” Mika said quickly, his smile still as soft as before.
Another pause settled. Wind moved through the banners above the gate as a knight called out for final checks. The expedition was beginning to pull itself forward.
Mika shifted his satchel higher on his shoulder.
“I should go,” he said. “They’re about to head out.”
“Of course.”
Mika hesitated, then extended a hand.
“It was nice meeting you,” Mika said. “I hope your travels go well.”
Dottore looked at the offered hand for half a second longer than strictly necessary before taking it. Mika’s grip was warm and almost steady.
“Safe travels, Mika Schmidt,” Dottore replied.
Mika blinked, surprised that Dottore knew his full name but before he could question it, Dottore released his hand.
“Take care,” he said, moving away quickly before the blond could open his mouth.
Mika did not move for a moment before he shook his head and just turned and walked back toward the waiting knights, merging into the movement of the expedition as naturally as he merged into terrain.
Dottore remained behind. He watched as Mika adjusted his pack one final time, exchanged quiet words with comrades and passed beneath Mondstadt’s gate into the open land beyond. Only when the figures began shrinking into the distance did Dottore finally turn away.
His coat shifted as he stepped back from the plaza, mind already reconstructing the probabilities and futures that had not yet unfolded.