Disclaimer: I am not making any money from this story. I do not own Trinity Blood, any of its characters or settings. Anything else is mine.
One
Tres Iqus was shopping for a lover.
Not out of necessity but rather curiosity. As an android he was a blending of man and machine. Admittedly his was a decidedly robotic nature, but his creator had desired Tres to be virtually human, not only in appearance but also adaptive reaction and to a more limited extent, behavior as well.
His true function was that of a destroyer; he had earned the name Gunslinger and felt no remorse. Tres was simply carrying out his orders to serve the Vatican and more specifically the AX. While he understood the concepts of good and evil, his objective was always the main priority; even if it occasionally set him at odds with his fellow teammates. Of all the members of the AX, Tres was the one guaranteed to fulfill a mission at any cost. He was without fear or sentiment, for the most part.
There were times when his malleable behavior programming kicked in; he had spared the girl Eris because she was only a child and logic had stated she would not be a threat to the Vatican if she were to be raised in safe, controlled conditions. It was the realization that she could indeed be a most useful ally to the Vatican in the future that had swayed him to let her go. Tres understood the rules of diplomacy; he was just under no compulsion to follow them. His main concern was, as always, his objective.
The driving force in his life outside of missions was to constantly test and improve himself, so that he would be of optimal use to the Vatican. He spent hours on the shooting range, and as a result his abilities exceeded that of his original programming. He similarly devoted himself to studying history and societies, in order to be able to blend in with varying cultures while on missions. When action was required, there was no need for such measures but it was his understanding that the Vatican wanted combat to be a final step rather then an initial one.
As a result of his intense studies, Tres had a superior intellectual understanding of both Humans and Methuselahs; at least their biological traits and tendencies. Experience had taught him that individuals could vary in their behaviors.
One aspect of both races that he had difficulty truly comprehending was emotions. Despite the large number of racists among them, Humans and Methuselahs had many things in common. Both had families and friendships; pursued lives of varying states of enterprise and politics, and were given to intense displays of emotion that could unfailingly override their senses of logic. Of all the emotions they displayed, only love seemed to encompass every extreme, both good and bad.
It was something he found interesting but doubted he could ever experience; not in a true sense. He was programmed to have adjustable behavior but it was an imitation, not necessarily a reality. Love itself was out of reach; but many of the main precursors that led to it were not.
Sexual desire, flirtatious behavior and courtship were all things Tres could understand in theory. He had confidence he could enact them as well. The android had been considering engaging in an experiment to test such a hypothesis for some years. But it was his discussion with Father Leon the night before that had finally prompted him to take action.
There had been a dinner held in honor of the AX, all members were present and the event had seemed to transpire without flaw. One of the new Sisters had consumed a bit too much wine and as a result spent a great deal of time talking to Father Abel Nightroad. Tres thought nothing of this, having long ago realized that alcohol could impair the decision making process of most living creatures.
Father Leon, however, had taken great delight in the scene. He was highly amused by both the Sister's earnest interest and Father Abel's obvious obliviousness. Father Leon had laughed uproariously more then once that night. Tres was seated alongside him, and as such had to endure his endless mirth. When Tres had finally asked what was so funny about the situation, Father Leon had told him he wouldn't be able to understand since no program could definitively explain the complexity of human courtships.
Tres had understood and agreed. He did not like having incomplete knowledge in any area, however. At that point he had decided to educate himself on the matter of human courtship.
Tres realized this was something he should most likely pursue in private. Having already read a great deal on the subject; he had determined that carrying out his experiment with a member of the Vatican was out of the question. Historically speaking; such relations appeared volatile and could lead to an obstruction of duties if carried out at work. Under no circumstances could his pursuit of knowledge interfere with his service to the Vatican.
The logical course of action was to therefore go into the city and look for a suitable subject. He had no current objectives, and so that morning he chose to dress in civilian clothes before leaving for town. Tres did not want his future companion to have any knowledge of his life at the Vatican. If pressed he would simply say he held a position there and nothing more. In the interest of maintaining the highest degree of control in the experiment, he would not divulge the fact he was an android either. Such information might change the subject's behavior and contaminate the interactions.
Tres set out at dawn, in order to avoid questioning by his teammates, who would undoubtedly note his lack of uniform. He suspected it would take him the better part of the day to locate a partner. From his own observations, people seemed to simply be drawn to one another initially and if encouraged, this led to the development of relationships. Because he had no preferences or experience with selecting a companion, he deduced that he would have to wait for a female to convey interest in him. He had noticed that most times it was the male who initiated such contact but there had been some females he had observed taking the first step. Invariably these women had also seemed the most interesting in their behaviors. Tres concluded such a female would be perfect for his experiment.