"I'm sorry that I've used up so much of your time, Esther…" Lady Caterina said as she stood from her chair. "It's just that so much has happened in these last three months since you left our team. I do hope that some of your visit here will be spent doing something much more enjoyable than delving into politics," she mustered a small chuckle.
"Oh it was wonderful to see you again Lady Caterina, I've really missed Rome desperately…I love Albion as though it were my first home, but Rome will always have a special place in my heart." She spoke earnestly, but after having heard everything from Father Tres, she could see now why there had seemed to be a dark veil over Lady Caterina.
Lady Caterina paused as she heard a telltale sound coming from the other side of the door into her chambers, and smiled a bit wryly. "Well, you asked about Abel earlier…it looks as though you'll get to ask him yourself how he has been."
Esther was about to ask her what she meant, right in the instant that the doorway into the chambers opened, and Abel and OlivAI came toppling in while Father Leon looked flustered behind them, like he'd been trying to keep them from rampaging through the place like a herd of buffalo and had failed to catch them before they'd plopped into the room.
"E-Esther! I mean, Queen Esther! I mean…er…ugh…" Abel said, trying to regain his composure and of course failing miserably at doing so. He struggled back to his feet with his robes entangled around him, but managed to stand and smiled to her.
Esther's face lit up upon seeing him so quickly that she had to catch herself. "Father Nightroad, I mean…Abel…it's so nice to see you again," she said to him softly as he ambled up to her, but his shyness seemed to catch him quickly. "I'd wanted to send word to see how you were for so long, it's…just been so hectic in Albion…"
"Oh, Esther…you have nothing to apologize for, you know that," Abel said to her sweetly, correcting the angle of his glasses. "But, perhaps while you are here, we can spend some time catching up…?"
"Tres!" OlivAI called out happily as she managed to untangle herself since she was still wearing his far-too-big-for-her priestly robes sans the Vatican markings. She sprinted past them and went to embrace him. Tres looked to her and opened his arms to receive her, and held her close as she hugged him tightly. Of course, she could pounce him at full speed and it would do nothing; at his immense weight, he was practically rooted to the ground.
"Ah Tres, I know I just saw you this morning before you left but I missed you nonetheless," OlivAI sighed as she embraced him tightly.
"Positive; your absence has left a negative impression upon this day for me OlivAI," Tres replied.
OlivAI let out an exasperated but bemused sigh. "I'm still getting used to that ultra-realistic and blunt language of yours, Tres…but I do understand." She craned her neck up quite a bit but managed to place a small kiss on his cheek, which he leaned down slightly to receive, closing his eyes softly a moment as she did so.
Lady Caterina observed that silently; Tres was programmed to maximum efficiency. He didn't even have the need to blink, and yet…whenever she showed him affection, he seemed to…react in some way, stronger than she felt him capable of. It wasn't just a show, either…she knew Tres well enough to know if he were concealing anything in spite of his emotionless façade. It was an interesting observation, and one that she planned to investigate, soon.
Esther fawned a bit and giggled. "So that's OlivAI? She looks sweet like you, Abel…" Esther chided a bit, causing Abel to blush shyly and rub the back of his head.
"Me? Sweet? I suppose if I'm in a good mood I could be called agreeable…" he mumbled humbly.
"There's no need to feel you all must say here, everyone under my command is dismissed, and Queen Esther…I will see you again soon," Lady Caterina said to her with a gentle smile.
Queen Esther bowed to her respectfully and then turned to depart, inundated almost immediately by her armed entourage. Abel, however, was determined to speak with her and followed along hoping to find an opening to do so.
Father Tres departed with OlivAI beside him, keeping an arm around her protectively. Lady Caterina frowned slightly and then sat down once more.
"Sister Kate…could you please have the Professor come to my office at his earliest convenience?"
"Please, Abel is a friend of mine, there's no need for all of this protectiveness," Esther pleaded with her security detail a bit; they were all but interrogating the poor priest as he pleaded and cowered a bit as they blockaded him from getting near her. With her word, however, they finally relented and released him.
Abel staggered forward a bit as Esther looked to her soldiers. "Please, give us some time alone. You can secure a wider perimeter for right now. I want to talk to him in privacy." Her soldiers immediately did as they commanded, giving them ample space together.
"Heh, well you had plenty of practice bossing us around when you were here didn't you?" Abel said goofily as he watched the soldiers depart wordlessly. Esther chuckled a bit, sitting down onto a courtyard bench and giving him plenty of room to join her. Abel smiled and gratefully did so.
"Father…I mean, Abel…I'm sorry, it's an old habit," she replied with a small smile. "I'm so happy to see that you're doing better now. I've been worried about you ever…ever since…"
"I know…one of the last times you saw me was when I fought with Cain," Abel said, his smile deteriorating into a solemn frown. "All of that was like some sort of awful nightmare, wasn't it? To me it's essentially all a painful sort of void. I don't remember dying, or being reborn…I just remember fighting him, and even that was vague. I really woke up from this stupor when Cain escaped…we were too evenly matched for there to be a real winner," he sighed. "Ever since then we've been trying to locate where Cain is. I was tempted to leave and find him, but…after everything I was weary."
"Abel, your spirit is so weathered…" Esther said to him, making him pause and look at her silently. "It needs rest, just as the body does. You spent nine hundred years mourning for Lillith..." Abel looked a bit stunned to realize she knew more about him than he'd first thought. "Lady Caterina told me…in a letter, about a month ago. I was still so lost and confused about what happened…she felt I deserved to have some closure for all of that. Abel, why…why didn't you tell me all of this? Your origins…what you really were…did you not trust me?"
"Of course I trusted you…" Abel said gently. "But I…I also cared…so much about you, Esther…that was why I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth. I did…everything that I could to try and keep you from seeing the demon that lives within me, the Krusnik…" He paused once more and smiled ever so faintly. "It's strange, really…I've lived all these years hating my own flesh and blood and yet…seeing Seth and encouraging OlivAI have made me…accept it slightly more. But…I didn't want you to know of it, Esther."
"Abel…I would have understood…had I seen it on your terms…but to see you transform and attack Cain, two months ago in the Ghetto…it was horrifying, but it wasn't what caused me the most pain. It's that you didn't think I could accept it."
Esther stood with some slight effort with her heavy royal gown, but managed to move so that she was standing before him as he sat semi-slumped on the bench. He looked at her quietly. "Abel, I trusted you the most of anyone. You were the one who helped me regain my own faith after I was betrayed by Dietrich. You brought me here to Rome, and helped me find a new sense of purpose. Did you really think that after all of that, that I would abandon you if I'd known?"
"It wasn't right, Esther…I know this now. But…I have lost many that I was close with because of the Krusnik…" Abel replied. "Even…before I came back here to Earth. Esther…when I am in my Krusnik form, I feel no different from my brother. I feel only like a monster and the higher that my form goes, the more that I lose myself to it. What I gain in strength I lose in sanity. It terrifies me, and yet…I have no choice but to accept it. But the world is at war with itself, and I am just another variable in all of this…sometimes, sometimes I wish I knew more of what God's plan for me is, Esther…"
Abel gasped slightly when he suddenly felt the gentle pressure of Esther's hands against his cheeks, and she made him lift his face from its downtrodden position so that he was looking up at her again. She was looking down at him with an immensely soft expression, and a faint smile on her face. It reminded him so much of…
"Abel, I know that what you carry is a burden, both a blessing and a curse. I'm not angry at you, now…I just wanted to understand, and now I do," Esther replied. She was speaking quietly enough that only he could hear her. "I know that over time you have suffered so much, Abel. I can't even imagine what it felt like to mourn someone for almost a millennium with time simply passing and the anguish never ceasing. But you have a chance now, to live your life the way that you want to. Continue to do your work for the Vatican if you feel it is your duty in repentance, but also live to make yourself happy. You think so much about others, and yet you sacrifice so much of yourself. Abel…I want you to be happy. If there's anything that I can ever do to help you with that, please…I want you to tell me," she said, leaning her forehead down against his for a brief moment.
Abel couldn't find the words he wanted to speak; it felt as though they were all lodged in his throat. All he could do was feel the warmth of her forehead pressed against his, and her hands against his cheeks…he wanted so much to lean up slightly and-
"Queen Esther, I am sorry to intercede with your meeting, but we must make haste to your quarters so that you will be safer, my Lady," her captain of the guard reported from behind her. Esther stood and released Abel's face and turned to look at him.
"I understand," she nodded, turning back to Abel with an apologetic smile. "I'll try to find us some more time soon for us to talk, Abel…please, think about what I've said, all right?" she said; she leaned down and placed a small kiss on the top of his head, before she turned and followed the captain back to her entourage.
Abel's face was slightly reddened from the gesture as he watched her leave, but he still frowned a bit sadly as he watched her go.
"I have thought about it…" he whispered to himself.
"You are what makes me happy…"
"So…you say that Father Tres is exhibiting some strange behavior lately?" the Professor asked as he stifled the smoke of his pipe. "I'd have to agree considering the stunt that he pulled a couple days ago…"
"It isn't even the action itself that strikes me as odd. Tres has always been one to use whatever method he can to achieve his current mission, though this one…he assigned himself as protector to OlivAI and I commend him for finding whatever means he could to do that. But…she has been giving him affection; it probably begun as a form of thanks that has evolved into romantic love, and he…he reacts to it. It is hard for me to explain since the action itself is so subtle, but he does. And he has reciprocated it. If he merely returned her affections for the sake of reciprocity, he would be far blunter about it. You've seen how he reacts to anything and everything. He adapts to whatever occurs in front of him, but this…this is not like anything I've seen. He's known to at times have a small sense of humor, and he has his own hidden set of morals that he abides by…but, something as abstract as love should not be within his programming."
The Professor paused and contemplated on this silently. "Father Tres's internal machinations have always been a partial mystery to me. Dr. Garibaldi left little behind of how he designed his Killing Doll androids, but for the longest time most of us assumed that they only had two functions: to do as they're commanded by their authoritative entity, and to solve any hindrances with violence and murder. Not always necessarily in that order, either. We know now that he simply wanted to use them as soulless killing machines to spark a riot that never came to its full fruition. But Tres has proven that that programming wasn't entirely perfected in them, or at least…it wasn't as ruthlessly 'efficient' as the good doctor had hoped. That said, there's never been any concrete proof that Tres's programming is unable to evolve under changing circumstances, and considering that this was the first time he was assigned not only a mission where he was acting solely on protection, but also failed to protect her from being taken…I can only conclude that something in his processor has changed, and that he is beginning to experience real sensations like any living being."
"You mean that he has the ability to adapt when it comes to emotions as well?" Lady Caterina asked.
"That's the only logical conclusion that I can come to as of right now, my Lady. After all, it isn't as though Father Tres has ever dealt with something like this before, correct? He has received affection as a friend, an ally and comrade before…but not love, which is a pure and as you said, abstract, emotion. None of us have ever confessed it to him, and as far as I know no one outside of our organization has shown him much but suspicion and hatred. To have someone both dependent on him currently and also showing him a form of intimacy like this, well…I can't think of any other way to explain it."
Lady Caterina listened and looked a bit troubled. "This news isn't precisely what I needed to hear to feel more at ease…"
"Lady Caterina, if I may be so bold…I know that you care about Father Tres as much as you do the rest of us, are you perhaps feeling…a bit protective of his fledging feelings?" the Professor asked.
She gave him a slightly cross look. "If you think me that shallow Professor then I'll ask you to resign from the AX agency," she barked at him a bit harshly. "If Father Tres were able to experience even the smallest shred of happiness that any single one of us can experience in their lives, I would be nothing but happy for him. It is not Father Tres I worry about with regards to his programming, but the fact that it appears as though it can evolve means that there is another in our midst that may be experiencing this…"
The Professor looked intrigued and a bit confused a moment, before the worry slowly crept onto his fact. "You are referring to the Inquisition's own android soldier, aren't you? Brother Bartholomew?"
"I have never once trusted his presence here in the Vatican; in fact, there is nothing that I regret more from that incident than allowing my brother's forces to take Duo Iqus's near-dead form with them. But I have been monitoring the Inquisition's movements lately, and while Brother Petros has been keeping his distance from the situation and monitoring it from a correct standpoint, he has not been keeping his soldiers in check…and Brother Bartholomew has already made one attempt at detaining OlivAI without a given command."
"You mean that he acted entirely on his own?" the Professor asked with a grave tone.
"Brother Petros reprimanded him for detouring from his designated patrol, so that's all that I can assume. I wouldn't have known of this had Father Tres not informed me of it. Of course, he simply mentioned it at the tail end of a brief conversation we had last night when he came to give me his nightly report, but…I think to a degree, he was upset. Not as much of a stretch to think of it that way if he really is beginning to learn to at least feel emotions, even if he cannot fully express them. But I ended up checking the security tapes around the central courtyard and was able to see secondhand their encounter. Granted, they were too far away to capture their audio, but the way that Brother Bartholomew looked at them, OlivAI and Father Tres…I cannot describe it. He even had the gall to look Father Tres directly in the eyes as he licked his fiancée's blood from his hand before he departed; it was very disturbing."
"Hmm…admittedly that does worry me. If Brother Bartholomew has some sort of personal vendetta then that's about the last thing that we need," the Professor sighed. "We've already been discussing and preparing for the Orden to do something at the ceremony, or shortly thereafter. If Brother Bartholomew is another variable in all of this we're looking at an already fragile situation turning into a near-catastrophe in the best of circumstances."
"I can only rely on whatever Father Tres tells me about what he observes; one way or another the Orden is our primary enemy. It is just something else to bear in mind in these next couple days," Lady Caterina replied. "Professor…please tell the other agents, including Father Nightroad whenever he separates himself from Queen Esther's company, to please keep a watchful eye over Father Tres and OlivAI."
The Professor couldn't help a wry little smirk. "You're asking us to protect Gunslinger? I think he'll be insulted, or possibly shoot us if we get in his way, which is fairly likely..."
"Father Tres's power is unquestionable, but he cannot hold his own by himself against some of the enemies we face. In a way, it is because like OlivAI, there is a part of him that…that is innocent. He does not know the way that evil works in this world. He calculates and he plans and strategizes, but he does not understand the evil, because he cannot feel it. He only knows it is his enemy. I want to protect him from that evil, and OlivAI as well. They have both been violated of some of their own freedoms that we take for granted; he in his limited sentience and misunderstood nature, and her being attacked in a heinous way in order to act as an unwilling pawn in the Orden's plot. Even though their wedding stands as an ample opportunity for us to establish at least negotiations with the Empire, there is part of me that does want the ceremony to go well purely for their sake. That is why I'm going to make it wonderful for them. My only request of all of you right now, however, is that you keep them safe. There is so much out there that wants to harm them, Professor…and I owe it to Father Tres for all he's done to ensure they are kept safe."
"Well, I'm fairly certain we can handle that," the Professor responded with a confident smile. "If your Lordship does not have anything further to discuss, however, I believe that I will allow you the company of solely your own thoughts. I'll look into what little we salvaged from Dr. Garbaldi's laboratories, however…see if there's anything of interest in those few dusty notes of his."
"Thank you, Professor…please let me know immediately if you find anything of interest," Lady Caterina replied, watching him leave in silence.