CHAPTER 27:

THE CRIMES OF IL DOTTORE

Nahida explained what it was that made the samsara nightmarish, at least for some. Nilou was the nexus of the samsara, the axis around which the cycle rotated. She was forced to go through loop after loop of Azar and Setaria closing down the Sabzeruz Festival out of spite. And it wasn't the real Azar or Setaria either, just dream reality equivalents of AIs.

The reason they shut it down, however, was even nastier. Lyney had his magic trick sabotaged, with him falling to his death in an attempt to do a variation of his teacher Cesar's last trick. Lynette, meanwhile, was abducted by an agent of the relatives of the noble she was rescued from. And both would hear a last communique from Arlecchino, claiming she had no further use for them.

Harry was appalled. For all that he despised the Fatui and didn't like the thought of Lyney or Lynette being with them, to undergo that sort of thing over and over again was cruelty of a literally nightmarish sort. Nilou's fate had the mark of the Sages on it, while Lyney and Lynette was sheer sadism.

"Dunyarzad began to flag as the loops went on," Nahida said. "I couldn't get the samsara to conclude any sooner because I needed to bring them to awareness of the samsara's existence gradually. You shouldn't wake a sleepwalker suddenly, after all. The paradigm shift could damage their psyches, or worse. In addition, we not only needed to discern who was the host of the samsara, but also why Lyney and Lynette were being targeted. I learned that they were Fatui agents just after you brought them here."

Harry clenched his fist in anger. For all that Lyney and Lynette were Fatui agents, that was just cruel. "Is everyone all right?"

Nahida nodded. "Lyney and Lynette are traumatised, and to be honest, so are the others to a lesser degree, for living through a samsara like that. Imagine, 108 versions of the same day, consecutively. Seemingly endless."

"…But why would the Sages do that? Or Il Dottore, for that matter?" Harry said. "You said something about it being needed to overclock the Akasha System, to ensure it could compute something, but…people could have died! What could possibly be worth that?"

"I don't know for sure. And Harry…I think some people did. I tried to resolve the samsara as quickly as possible, but I also needed to ensure the Sages could not detect my intrusion." She put her face into her hands, and sobbed quietly. "…I'm a failure of an Archon."

"…Nahida, I'm sure you did everything you could," Harry said, though he felt like a hypocrite, as he had felt the same way, given how many people died during Voldemort's second uprising. But he needed to reassure his sister. "Besides, their deaths are not on your hands. They're on those Sages and Il Dottore's hands."

"Exactly," Zhongli said. "Even when you make as much of an effort as you can, you cannot save everyone, not every time. To believe otherwise is madness. Still, I am sure, as you are if you overheard our conversations, that this samsara may have something to do with what Il Dottore plans with Scaramouche."

Nahida nodded, even as she removed her hands from her bloodshot, glistening eyes. "And we at least know something about Il Dottore's abilities, that he has at least multiple bodies."

"He called them segments, and that the Eremite failed to grasp the nuances of them," Harry mused.

"Segments…that's a very telling turn of phrase," Nahida said. "If he was that specific about them…never mind. It is something we can ask our guests about. They may know." She looked to Harry. "I think we should leave Sumeru City as soon as they've woken up."

"Leave?" Harry asked incredulously. "But we haven't figured out why Il Dottore and the Sages inflicted that dream samsara on the people here, or where they're hiding Scaramouche. I mean, those Eremites said that they've got him in a giant robot or something, it'd be a mite conspicuous out in the open."

"I know, but Il Dottore gave those Eremites orders to bring Lyney and Lynette to him," Nahida said. "He may yet search for them. He may need time to come up with a suitable cover story, given that he is one of the Harbingers, and these two are Fatui as well, but he will come for them, I am sure of it. He may have been monitoring the dreamscape."

After a moment, Harry conceded Nahida's point. She may never lose her compassion, but she was also the clearest thinker of the two siblings, looking at things with cold objectivity if need be. And between the twins and Il Dottore, he'd rather favour the twins.

"Where do we head to, Nahida?" Venti asked.

"Port Ormos," Nahida said. "To the Homayanis. I'd like to stop by in Gandharva Ville first, though, to discuss events with Tighnari."

"What about Cyno?" Harry asked. "We should notify him of what has happened before we leave."

"And we will," Nahida said. "But we need to prepare ourselves for an escape."

At this point, they heard a cute little yawn, and saw Paimon rising into the air, stretching. "Ugh…good morning," the imp-like creature said, looking at them blearily. "Paimon feels so tired…my head feels so heavy…"

"Take it easy," Nahida said. "You're still heavily fatigued, mentally, anyway. That dream samsara is mostly the opposite of a good night's sleep."

"Paimon thought we were never going to break free of that loop," the floating being muttered. "The others not awake yet?" As she looked around, she frowned. "Lyney? Lynette? What are they doing here?"

"It's a long story, and we want to wait until the others are awake first," Nahida said, before frowning, and then saying, with a lazy wave of her hand, "Incarcerous." The two magicians were wrapped up in rope. "Given what stresses they underwent in the dream samsara, they and Dunyarzad will probably be the last ones to wake up…"

And so it proved. Ather, Sirius and Dehya were the next to wake up, and Dehya went to make sure she woke up the Blazing Beasts. She ordered them to deactivate and, where possible, remove their Akasha Terminals, something she did herself. So did Sirius and Paimon, though Aether kept his for now, though he also deactivated it. Lyney and Lynette were the last to wake up, and when they realised they were tied up, and the others were looking at them with varying degrees of hostility, they seemed…resigned. If anything, it wasn't just resignation in their eyes: Harry saw fear, anxiety, the scars of trauma.

Nahida was the one who took the lead explaining matters, about the dream samsara, about Il Dottore directing the Eremites to kidnap Lyney and Lynette, about Scaramouche being present. Zhongli added a few things, mostly about their communication with Arlecchino. And by the end of it, everyone was caught up to speed.

"Is this true?" Aether asked. "Are you with the House of the Hearth?"

Lyney nodded. "Yes. We were sent by Father to help Il Dottore seek out the whereabouts of the Dendro Archon. In addition, she had concerns about his loyalty, and whether he had concealed the whereabouts of the Electro Gnosis and Scaramouche."

"Great, so we got caught up in a pissing contest between two Fatui Harbingers," Dehya said.

Harry then glared at the twins. "How much of what you told me yesterday was a lie?"

Lynette shook her head. "Nothing. We spoke the truth, the only lies we uttered were those of omission, to conceal our nature as agents of Father. She was the one who saved me from that depraved noble…by slaughtering him and his guards."

"She also did the same to the noble who originally adopted us, but he did almost as much to deserve his fate," Lyney said bitterly. "I'm sure that records from the Maison Gardiennage have been entered into the Akasha System."

After a moment, Nahida said, "I didn't remove your Akasha Terminals yet because I intended to read your minds. My power allows me to access a person's mind via their Akasha Terminal. If you want us to trust you to any degree, I need to use it."

Lyney and Lynette shared a look, before Lynette said, "I'll do it."

"Lynette…" Lyney said.

Nahida did what she did with Paimon, framing the air in front of her with her thumb and index finger on each hand, before closing her eyes. Seconds later, Nahida opened her eyes. "…I'm sorry you went through what you did." She looked to Harry and Zhongli. "I think we can trust them, if only to oppose Il Dottore. In fact, their loyalty to Arlecchino aside, I think we can trust them to help us, as long as it doesn't conflict with their loyalty to Snezhnaya."

"…I hope you know what you're doing, Nahida," Dehya said.

Nahida nodded, before deactivating and removing the twins' Akasha Terminals. "She didn't do anything to you, Lynette?" Lyney asked.

"She just…I barely noticed her presence in my mind," the catgirl said quietly. "Lyney, she's not a normal Vision wielder, that's for sure."

"That's because I am not a Vision wielder." After a moment, she said, "I am Kusanali."

Harry facepalmed, while the twins exchanged a look of surprise. Then, eventually, Lyney said, "I think this changes much, Lynette."

"Mission parameters have not changed, Lyney," Lynette pointed out.

"Our orders were to search for the Dendro Archon, not to take her Gnosis. We have found the Dendro Archon. While technically, as members of the Fatui, we are to seek the Gnoses, those weren't our direct orders." Lyney looked to Nahida. "Besides, we are already in her debt for freeing us from the dream samsara. And she seems confident in revealing her identity. In other words, unless she is foolish, there are countermeasures in place."

"My identity is under a sorcery known as the Fidelius Charm," Nahida said. "Unless I tell someone, they are unaware that I am the Dendro Archon, and they cannot divulge it to anyone not in the know. In other words, you are unable to tell anyone else."

"…Clever and prudent," Lynette observed. "So why tell us?"

"Because I needed you to be aware of the gravity of the situation. Your master tasked you with finding evidence of Il Dottore's treachery, as well as evidence that Scaramouche and the Electro Gnosis is here in Sumeru," Nahida said. "We have Harry here listening to Il Dottore, or one of his segments, mentioning this. Though what does he mean by 'segments'? He seemed to suggest that he has multiple bodies, but that there was a greater nuance to them."

Lyney, after a moment's pause, said, "Father told us that the Doctor has basically preserved versions of himself at varying stages of his life, so that he has multiple perspectives on his work. All have the same type of body, but many have differing outfits, and even somewhat different personalities. I'm not sure how many bodies he has, but at least scores if not hundreds, and he is a master of disguise."

"What an insane mindset," Nahida said. "Fascinating, true, but utterly insane."

"Do you know whether he's working with the Sages?" Aether asked.

"We do not know how, but he persuaded them that he could help them overcome their lack of discoveries, which has been attributed to your weaker state compared to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata," Lynette said, looking to Nahida. "He did not share further details with us, though, presumably because we are the agents of a rival Harbinger."

Lyney nodded. "Father and Il Dottore do not get along. Then again, Father is not known for getting along with most of the other Harbingers in any case. I found Tartaglia affable enough, even if he and Father are on fairly bad terms. Then again, she particularly despises the likes of Pulcinella and Pantalone who usually stay in Snezhnaya. However, if you believe that Il Dottore has Scaramouche and the Electro Gnosis in his possession, then there is one frightening possibility that comes to mind."

"Yes," Nahida said thoughtfully, if somewhat morosely. "I believe I know what conclusion you have considered."

"And what's that?" Paimon asked.

"This is only a hypothesis so far, but it fits the facts," Nahida said. "Il Dottore has in his possession two divine artifacts. The first is the Electro Gnosis formerly belonging to the Raiden Shogun. The second is her creation, Scaramouche, who was meant to be her proxy, a creation of divinity. I'm not sure how the dream samsara fits into this, but…one thing the Sages have always wanted was a god of wisdom to guide them. And remember what Azar said to me prior to your rescue of me, Harry?"

It took Harry a moment to realise what she was getting at, and he felt a thrill of horror run down his spine. "…He said you were no longer needed. But that means…Il Dottore is trying to replace you somehow with Scaramouche and/or the Electro Gnosis!"

Everyone fell silent at this, before Dehya muttered, "Those sons of bitches…and you think that dream samsara was part of the process?"

Nahida nodded. "I'm not sure exactly how it would help such a purpose, but the Sages were desperate to find a way to bring back their glory. And Il Dottore would have spurred them on. The thought of creating an artificial deity…a chilling thought, filled with blasphemous hubris and ambition that exceeds their reach…and yet, I believe they could potentially achieve it. With Scaramouche and the Electro Gnosis, they have at least two tools to help them achieve that."

"But Scaramouche was a cruel, bratty little nutjob!" Sirius protested. "If he becomes a god, it'll be a disaster, not just for Sumeru, but for the rest of Teyvat! We'll definitely need to bring Ei in!"

"We need to find him first," Nahida said, only to suddenly look up and pale. "Only…I think someone else has found us first."

Before Harry could ask what Nahida meant by that, they heard clashes outside. Then, the front door was broken down, and a squad of Matras, led by Cyno, marched in, levelling weapons at them, including Cyno. "Cyno? What the hell is this?!" Dehya demanded.

"Dehya, don't move," Nahida said. "Their Akasha Terminals…there's something wrong with them."

"There's nothing wrong with the Akasha Terminals per se. This is something of an experiment, to push the boundaries of what can be done with them, a means of depositing information into the subconscious as a means of control. A shame you removed your own, but then again, that speaks to your prudency. But I had already found a way to use the Akasha Terminal to conduct surveillance…where I overheard something interesting."

Shivers went down Harry's spine as he heard that voice, one he had only heard a couple of times before. A deep, mellifluous voice that nonetheless held boundless arrogance, hubris and malevolence within it. Nahida, Lyney, Lynette, Dehya and Dunyarzad were also looking afraid.

The man who strode through into the living room was both familiar and unfamiliar, Harry having only seen this version from a distance. The messy mane of pale blue hair was there, and while the bird-like mask concealed his eyes and the upper part of his face, the lower part of the face was similar, with a small, arrogant smile touching his lips. He was dressed in a long coat of light blue with fur trimming, a syringe-like pendant glowing blue hanging from a thong around his neck.

"…Zandik…" Nahida said, her voice filled with anxiety, and yet a surprising amount of venom.

"A name I discarded long ago. Most people call me the Doctor," Il Dottore said, before his smile widened. "But you would know about having many names, Nahida…or should I call you Lesser Lord Kusanali, the Dendro Archon?"

CHAPTER 27 ANNOTATIONS:

So, the aftermath of the samsara…and now, Il Dottore makes his move. Seriously, his theme when he makes his onscreen debut is both chilling and bombastic.

Okay, I have the next chapter written, but not the one after that. So, maybe the next one will come with the December mass-update. Of course, who knows? Maybe you won't have to deal with this cliffhanger for that long…

No numbered annotations this time.