Chapter Text
Segment Beta was always looked down upon by the other segments. As a 10 year old, the others didn’t believe he was able to provide any impactful perspective on their issues… despite the fact that they created him to get his perspective on things. Sometimes he wondered, why did the original Dottore recreate him earlier than some of the other segments? Since Segment Omega failed in Sumeru, he decided he would snoop around. The other Dottore segments all frowned on him for taking matters into his own hands, but what were they gonna do? So he went out and explored Sumeru, finally coming across the Traveler. He knew it was best to stay hidden and listen to their conversation.
“Paimon can’t wait to open the gift Nahida sent to us! I bet it’s a bunch of yummy food and shiny mora!” Nahida? As in Lesser Lord Kusanali?
“Let’s open it.” He watched them hastily open the box.
“Ooo! She really did pack mora and a bunch of goodies! There’s even some treats!… Wait, this is The Balladeer’s cooking, isn’t it?.. Or, I guess Paimon should call him Hat Guy… or Wanderer… Aaaaargh! He has way too many names! Oh well, Paimon still doesn’t trust him, but food is food!”
If it were any other segment, they would… well, they wouldn’t be here in the first place. Anyways! His interest was piqued, so now he had to get that Balladeer-Hat Guy-Wanderer guy! Maybe he could even take him as an experimental subject for the others and make them not just treat him as a ten year old anymore! But… where would he start?-
“Why don’t we go visit them and say thank you tomorrow afternoon? We haven’t seen them in a while! Oooo, we could all go hang out at Puspa Café!”
Well… That was very convenient? Why not go visit the cafe too! He could disguise himself and have some fatui soldiers play as his parents! He quickly crept away, planning to spend time at his rented room for the night.
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“Alright, fine! If it means avoiding getting experimented on, I’ll read you a story…” Segment Beta, or rather Dottore lay down on the bed in his Hello Kitty Onesie expectantly pretending not to have abused his power to threaten the other just a few seconds ago. Childe sighed and scoured the compact shelves filled mostly with documentaries on very gory experiments and… Sanrio children’s stories.
“Ok, how about this one? The tale of the wandering doll.” Dottore’s eyes beamed brightly.
“Sure!” He tightened his grip on the My Melody plush he was holding.
“Ok, just this once.” Childe sighed and began. “There once was a noble queen in need of an heir. The queen wanted someone perfect, so she used the techniques of an ancient civilization, and breathed life into a doll. However, the doll cried after being created, so the queen decided it wasn’t worthy of inheriting her royal status.”
“Oh no… what happened next?” Dottore hugged his My Melody plush.
“Settle down. The queen, thinking that caring for him would not allow him to choose his own fate, cast him down into the wilderness. One day, he was found by a blacksmith, who brought him to his hometown. The people there were disgusted by him because of his doll nature and only tolerated him, but a few people thought of him as one of them. One such man treated the doll like his younger sibling, and cherished him. But the peace didn’t last for long.”
“But why would she put him in the wilderness? That doesn’t seem reasonable.”
“Not everyone is reasonable all the time.” Childe thought back to Zhongli giving him, a bloodthirsty monster forged in the abyss, marriage chopsticks.
“Oh.. ok.” Childe noticed that Dottore had unzipped the plush and was rolling bits of the stuffing into seeds.
“Anyways, let’s get back to the story…One day, an evil man disguised as an engineer who had been staying in the background of the town well before the doll arrived burned flames to the town. The man killed the person who had truly befriended the doll, and gave one of the now dead man’s organs to the doll to quench the flames. The town was saved, but the tired doll had been falsely led to believe that the organ was not from his friend but from one of his friend’s servants that had been killed, and after such the person had fled the lands. Terrified, the doll left the town to wander the wilderness.”
“Oh no…”
“Eventually, he found a small child who had no family, just like him. They promised to live together forever, but the child suffered from a condition, and one day died. Betrayed, the doll set fire to the village, and resolved to wander forever, believing that humans truly weren’t trustworthy.”
“Aw… that evil man sounds like one of the older segments.”
“I guess you’re right. One day, a man with morals that were a shade of gray decided to take in the doll. No one knows what happened to the doll, but all could hope to see the doll reach a happy ending…”
“Really? No solid ending? Aww….” Dottore had finished his mutilation of the plush’s insides, and placed all the seeds back in before zipping it back up.
“Disappointing, I know… you should be getting to sleep now.” Childe closed the book and put it back into the shelf.
“Ok…..” Dottore lay down comfortably as Childe turned off the lights. “Good night.”
“Good night.” Childe left the room. Seeing a younger version of Dottore was already off putting, but there was something that felt weirder… Why was that story so familiar?