Summary: A conscience was something Andrew couldn't afford and why would he? Everything was going according to plan.
It had been two months since they conquered the castle and a couple of days since he had last seen their alchemist. Varian was working nonstop on the Quirineon, leaving all the major decisions up to the Saporians as long as they got him his minerals and other stuff he needed. Occasionally Andrew checked in on him. When the little twat wouldn't show up for a prolonged amount of time it was his job to figure out if he was still alive or not. He didn't mind. It was always weirdly fascinating what the boy could do with his chemicals down in the laboratory.
"Whats up chum?" He greeted lighthearted to test the waters.
Varian didn't respond and that was answer enough. His sharp eyes were solemnly focused on the task at hand. He appeared unaware of his surroundings, so deep was he caught in the prison of his own mind.
Andrew sighed, right back to square one.
"Where is your hamster?"
Usually, Varian's tiny shadow was never far, especially when he got like that, however, right now it was nowhere to be found. Something about that sat wrong. He had a bad feeling. It made him uneasy, kinda twitchy.
"Raccoon," Varian corrected him absentmindedly. "He won't come anymore."
"What? Why?" Andrew asked surprised. He started to get worried. Was the kid onto them?
Vials and tubes clinked together in a lonesome lullaby.
"Cause he hates you," Varian stated as a matter of fact. "And he does not agree with my actions," his voice sounded hollow.
With the rodent out of the picture, it would be a child's play to keep the brat in check, the leader of the Separatists mused. Still, he seemed so different from the boy that had cried himself to sleep in their shared cell.
"It doesn't matter," Varian wasn't looking up, fully engulfed by his experiments. "He too will forget soon." There was no give in his expression - there was nothing in his face at all.
And now Andrew was truly worried. Careful he filed that information away into a box to think about never. Kids these days could be real scary.
"Seems like you have it all figured out kiddo."
The alchemist nodded but wasn't listening any longer.
Andrew reluctantly pulled himself away and left the monster he'd created behind in the dark dungeon.