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it's no uncommon fact that all humans have morals. after all, that's what makes humans, well, humans.

but what does it take for a human to be stripped of those morals?

it's simple, really. a person can only take so much before completely falling apart. however, people are naturally created to be very tolerant. so once a human does break, there's truly no going back.

today was like a day no different than any other. it was early in the morning and you had just finished getting ready.

a gloomy gray permeated the vast sky and the neighborhood was tranquilly quiet. you could only hear the noise of a few passing by cars and tiny animals hidden by the morning fog.

you got off the bus that took you to work. while adjusting the handbag on your shoulder, you headed towards the building you worked at.

until, you were stopped by the sound of a particular someone. which reminded you of the very day that columbina abruptly decided to visit you with sandrone.

while recalling the not so great experience you had that time, you felt your stomach twist upon hearing a new voice call out your name. this voice sounding much more masculine.

"oi you're y/n, right?" the mysterious man asked, his tone ambiguous.

you turned your head towards him while quirking up a brow. "who are you?"

"you forgot me already? i'm hurt m'lady," the man replied.

he had an odd appearance. blue curly hair and sharp ruby eyes that seemed as if they carried no emotion. he also wore a white suit like some sort of a business man.

behind him, you noticed two familiar figures. unfortunately, that brought you no solace since these two figures were what ruined your impression of childe's "friends."

after contemplating whether you should continue the conversation or not, you forced a smile. "i'm assuming you're also a friend of childe's then."

"correct," he replied.

"then, are you only here just to visit me as well?" you asked him.

"correct," he repeated.

"okay..."

the atmosphere went quiet after that. you could feel yourself cringe at the deafening silence.

"so what's your name?" you made an attempt to begin a convo.

"dottore."

but it was to no avail as the atmosphere went dead silent once again.

columbina and sandrone only watched from behind, columbina grinning at you deviously while sandrone appeared emotionless as usual.

you frowned at the discomfort that swarmed over you, slowly consuming your entire body. did they only visit me just to stare...

"hey y/n," dottore opened his mouth once more, "do you believe everyone has morals?"

what kind of question is that?

his sudden inquiry left you speechless for a fleeting moment. to you, his intentions were unclear.

"i do," you replied, although a bit hesitant. "but to a certain extent."

dottore raised a brow at this, prompting him to continue. "what do you mean by to a certain extent?"

"i mean everyone is born with morals, but that doesn't mean those morals can't eventually cease to exist."

the man seemed intrigued by your reply to his question, which he had deemed to be unanswerable. after all, people would often avoid answering such a peculiar question from a complete stranger in the first place.

"do you know what the fatui is?" he asked yet another ominous question, adding onto your suspicions about him and the other two.

"a company, right?"

a small laugh escaped dottore's mouth while columbina's grin widened. you weren't too fond of their taunting reactions.

"yes! we are a company. but do you know what we do?" the man grinned with pride, as if he worked at the most righteous company to ever exist. "and more importantly, do you know what tartaglia's job is?"

"he works at the company..." you mumbled, confusion lacing your thoughts.

"such an innocent response, it almost makes me feel bad for you!" he spat out mockingly.

you furrowed your eyebrows, still not understanding what exactly he was trying to convey. why did it feel like these three just wanted you to see childe as a bad person? did they even care about becoming friends with you in general?

it felt as if they wanted to prevent childe from getting involved with anyone who didn't work for the fatui. as if childe wasn't capable of becoming friends with anyone who he wasn't already colleagues with.

the only question that consistently popped up in your head was why? why were they so insistent on breaking your bond with him? surely it couldn't just be out of spite.

you doubted anyone would be doing this simply because of hatred. there had to be another reason.

what was even more odd was that there was something similar about these three.

actually, now that you thought about it more thoroughly, childe also carried a similar feeling as them. you just couldn't put your finger on it, not at the moment anyway.

but something was ominously off about these mysterious people who worked for the fatui. and you had to admit, you didn't exactly know what the fatui was, besides being a company.

you exhaled, ruffling your hair in frustration. "i don't understand you three. what are you trying to say?"

the next words that dottore spoke had crossed way past the limit.

"what if i told you that tartaglia has ruthlessly killed people before?"

unbelievable.

"alright enough nonsense," you retorted. "if you're only here to bad mouth childe, then leave."

the man looked at you with a wide eyed expression before bursting out into laughter. "so naive!"

columbina was now also chuckling from behind as sandrone rolled her eyes at dottore's pointless rambling.

you glared at him, growing fiercely annoyed by his constant jabbering.

"you're so gullible, look at you! hey, do you think i have morals?" he then asked, earning a bewildered look from you.

"what if i said i didn't? would you think of me as a bad person? what if i said murder was fine if it meant i'd gain something from it? what if i killed people for the sake of research, would you think of me as heartless?" dottore continued, still laughing psychotically in between.

he's crazy...

you took a few steps back, watching the man in front of you proceed to laugh hysterically.

your entire body went stiff, it became difficult to even move. was this fear?

but what were you scared of? is everything that dottore said true? surely it couldn't be. surely he or childe weren't murderers. he was only saying such things to frighten you, right?

"you look terrified! HAHA don't worry, i won't actually hurt you," he grinned venomously, fully satisfied by the look of pure terror emanating from your eyes.

he approached you even further, forcing you to look up at him in order to meet eye contact.

"do you fear death?" he narrowed his eyes while tilting his head sideways as his expression suddenly became grim. you could only stare at him, still not being able to process his words.

everything was slowly becoming a vast blur as you felt yourself get lost in your thoughts, feeling nauseous by the effects of utter shock.

the only thing you could hear was the vehement laughter originating from the psychotic man in front of you.

even the buildings around you seemed to be getting further away, you felt absolutely sick to the core. there was no plausible escape from this.

until.

"you know, i didn't think you'd actually have the balls to visit y/n yourself, dottore."

both you and dottore quickly turned your heads to where the voice came from.

and your eyes widened upon seeing a certain ginger standing right behind you, his arms crossed and his eyes practically shooting daggers at the blue headed man before you.

" PERFECT MATCH "