Meeting of the Minds
Satomi's first encounter with the Governor-General outside of formal business arrangements was not exactly as auspicious as she'd have liked. It wasn't during some eureka moment of masterful application of the field of physics she'd invented almost single-handedly. Oh no. It just had to be while she was engaged in a shouting match with a stack of scratch paper. The paper was winning, despite not doing any shouting itself. That didn't seem fair. The Governor-General astutely noticed that she seemed to be rather stressed, and suggested that they go out for drinks to try to get her head on straight.
Whatever the certain people later claimed, Kurt's motives for the invitation were entirely aboveboard and platonic. For all the intelligence and drive she'd needed to achieve her doctorate at such a young age, the stresses of such a tremendous, politically-fraught project were obviously burning her out, and it would be a tragedy to lose such an adept young mind so early in her life. He had just intended to give her some encouragement, and assumed their meetings would end as soon as she'd learned to cope.
He'd had no interest in romance since Arika had made her choice clear. Hakase was over two decades his junior, and if he'd needed any reminding of that fact, her evident inexperience with alcohol would have done it.
Even after she mentioned bitterly that her work had been easier that time she'd helped with a world domination plot (or close enough as made no difference), and the ensuing conversation left both their drinks forgotten on the table, he never expected it to become more than simple friendship with one of his few intellectual equals.
In retrospect, Satomi should have paid more (i.e., any) attention to how much alcohol she drank during those discussions. Intellectually she was aware that it could have adverse effects on her if she wasn't careful, but the Governor-General's conversation was so fascinating, and it was hard to believe he'd let her come to any real distress. Besides, she never got drunk enough to impair her prized rationality. She may have been slightly distracted one night from their discussion about the therapeutic uses of mind control, but that was simply because she'd noticed that the Governor-General's lips looked abnormally soft, and decided to collect some empirical data to confirm or deny her hypothesis. What could be more logical?
It might be surprising that Kurt's reaction to being unexpectedly kissed was to voluntarily seek out Albireo Imma for help. However, the only other feasible options were Nagi (idiot), Jack (single idiot), Eishun (idiot about romance), Evangeline (stalker), his adopted son (what child could be expected to give advice about such a matter to a parent?), and Hakase herself. Besides, Albireo had to be good at keeping confidences in order to pursue his bibliographic hobby.
"It's not that I haven't had...interested parties before, but I never expected it from her."
"Certainly not. How could you ever expect a socially isolated young genius to fall for a charismatic older politician who treats her as an equ-"
Another point in Al's favor was his willingness to shrug off being interrupted by a theoretically lethal attack. Granted, this was counterbalanced by how often he provoked them.
"She's one of Negi's students. I would expect her to be aware of my feelings for Arika. You know how those girls gossip."
"Ah yes. Arika." With that, Al shifted into that very woman. "And when was the last time you thought about me, young man?"
Kurt couldn't find an answer for that. He couldn't even think to attack the damnable book. Said damnable book took the opportunity to shift into Hakase and lean coquettishly forward.
"You wouldn't even be here if you didn't have some interest in me, Governor." She (well, he, technically, but that was hard to remember right now) traced a finger across his cheek. "Or do you really think I'm so unloveable? A silly child?" Her (his! His, dammit!) eyes began to fill with tears (crocodile tears! Al could make them on command), and Kurt stalked out after a brief scuffle.
The gadfly had a point, as he did distressingly often. Kurt of all people knew that young people could be capable of so much more than their elders suspected.
The only people Satomi would consider turning to for help with problems of the heart (the metaphorical one, at least. She was aquainted with some excellent healers) and possibly certain other organs were Chao, Satsuki, and Chachamaru. Of those three, only Chachamaru currently shared both a timeline and time zone with her. For some reason, when she went to ask for help, the robot nearly shut down from overheating on the spot. Fortunately, she recovered quickly, and directed Satomi to ask Eva for help and not worry about what had just happened.
After Eva stopped laughing, she proved remarkably helpful, providing thorough explanations complete with charts and graphs. She did make one comment that utterly baffled Satomi, though.
"You really like the well-intentioned, world-dominating villain type, don't you? I guess Fate just wasn't enough of a mastermind for you."
"One data point is not enough to extrapolate a trend from."
"One data point? Please. You can't tell me Godel was your first crush. The Springfield blood is powerful, even when diluted by the generations."
It was a good thing the rest of her advice was much easier to understand.
Their lives continued unchanged for a few months, except for the fact that their little chats tended to devolve (or evolve, depending on how you looked at it) into activities rather less cerebral. They then agreed that it would be most convenient for both if they moved in together, and took the opportunity to get discreetly married in order to lighten the tax burden a bit.
Once Hakase let it slip to a visiting Yuna that she'd been married to the Governor-General for several years already, the Wings Red and White dropped by together, riotous even by their normal standards. Chao herself showed up, to offer congratulations and the autographs of Nikola Tesla and Machiavelli.
Takahata engaged in a vigorous debate with the Governor-General about the ethics of romance with those much younger than oneself in general, and Takahata's former students in particular. The topics covered ranged from whether possession of the finest mind of her generation counted as extenuating circumstances and whether Takahata had any room to talk from the way Asuna was hanging on to him, all the way to reeking cigarettes and stupid faces. When questions of taste in eyewear came up, Satsuki had to step in.
As penance for their flagrant lack of romance, the couple was required to go through with a Shinto ceremony, a Western ceremony, and a Mundus Magica ceremony, all presided over by Ayaka.
Due to the happy couple's involvement with the space elevator project, there was a surprising amount of press for a story about a politician marrying a scientist, before the public's attention was caught by another shiny object.
They never had children together. They agreed that the ones they'd come into the marriage with were plenty.
After the Tragedy of '65 and Negi's funeral, the elderly couple's discourse naturally turned to immortality. Kurt's views had performed a dramatic reversal from the last time they'd discussed it, long ago.
"Even if I did possess a means of becoming immortal without a vampire's bloodlust or the defects that we saw in the Lifemaker and poor Negi, I wouldn't use it. Not alone. If I did, I would live more years without my dear Professor than with you, and that would be simply unacceptable."
Satomi wiped some no-doubt-coincidental moisture out of her eyes. "Those words don't suit you, Governor. People like us, who sold our souls for the greater good, shouldn't be so sentimental."
They'd told that joke to each other countless times over the years, but it still made him smile as he once again replied, "Didn't I tell you? I stole our souls back years ago."
He died two years later, simply going to sleep one day and never awakening. It was a testament to the power of modern medicine that he'd lived as long as he did. Her death, three years later, was much more dramatic. The facts of the matter are as follows: A terrorist group claimed credit for sabatoging the life support systems on the space station where Satomi resided, and for leaving behind a booby trap to kill any crew members that attempted to repair the breach. Satomi's body was found by the crew at the sabotage site, with injuries consistent with the booby trap. The life support systems had already been restored.
There are other things that people say about the incident. They say that she heard the station screaming, before any alarms went off. They say that at the moment of her passing, every Chachamaru model throughout known space stopped what they were doing and hung their heads for a moment. They say that she was killed before she could start working, but Kurt Godel's shade refused to let Death within arm's reach of her until she was finished. They may be telling the truth.