Dumount knocks on Kain's door softly. He had been here to deal with medical evaluation of biological specimens, and he had noticed Kain's office.
<Prof_Kain>"Hm? Who is it?"
<Dumount> "It's Doctor Dumount sir. You probably have a detonator to a pack of explosives that resides in my chest somewhere on your desk"*
Prof_Kain looks over the mess of papers, strange little devices and forest of glass and chemicals, until he spots a remote.
<Prof_Kain>"Ah, yes. Well, do come in.”
The room is somewhat vast, an various glass pillars behind an large desk, all filled with strange specimens of all shapes and kinds, a network of cables and piping sprawled in a tangled mess at their bases. The desk itself is huge, made from some dark wood, and decidedly plain despite the obvious expense. Kain himself is resting in the cockpit of his walker, the devices hands holding up various papers as he read them.
Dumount enters meekly "I had been hoping you had lost it… Um.. permission to speak candidly about the Olympia project?"
<Prof_Kain> "Hm," is all he says. He doesn't even look up.*
Dumount blinks nervously, watching the tangled mess "You know your office is… very disorganized… Um… don't you have people who clean it for you?'' he says, clearly nervous enough to change the topic.
<Prof_Kain> "No, I like it this way. It's comforting. Anyways, you wanted to talk about something?"
<Dumount> "Al… Alright so… um… Olympia" Dumount says nervously, having a rather hard time coming out and saying this "Um… ah… you built her right?"
<Prof_Kain>"Yes, with my own two hands, so to speak, though Herr Chirurg did aid in some areas. What about it?"
"… I… I have a great deal of respect for you Kain…" replies Dumount
"Mm," Prof_Kain is seemingly engrossed in work, but is still being rather rude.
"But I… I wonder… I wonder how… you could have performed such…. monstrous acts so… so innocently," Dumount stammers.
Prof_Kain stops what he is doing, and quite clearly looks up. "I'm… sorry?"
Dumount blinks nervously, sweating bullets "I… Wonder how… you… could have performed such… immoral and monstrous acts so… so innocently," he repeats, looking like he was afraid of being gibbed on the spot.
Prof_Kain regards Dumount impassively.
<Dumount>"it… it does not reflect… poorly on Olympia… a child b..born of r…rape has no sin on their ba…balance but… but…"
<Prof_Kain>"But?"
<Dumount>"But you… the things you did… into a tree…. ring of eyes… ended so many human consciousnesses.." He stammers, having a hard time speaking under Kain's gaze. "It… makes me… a bit uncomfortable and… certainly worried about… the amount of value you put on human life… at…at the very least…"
<Prof_Kain>"They would have died regardless. I made sure to take all necessary precautions. They were anesthetized, unconscious, and had no idea of what was happening. Even their souls were also removed. Any semblance of humanity, and any ability to feel pain, was gone. I was not working on people. I was working on complicated biological machines."*
Dumount shakes in his chair, nervously "And those souls? Where did they go? Stored in a cold machine forevermore? Vanished into a cold universe?"
<Prof_Kain>"Why no. They were not."
<Dumount>"Then what did you do to them?" Dumount asks*
Prof_Kain seems to be getting a little agitated, irritated by being judged by someone else. "They were utilized to create Sophia's soul. The parts which were not, were allowed to dissipate naturally."
"So you killed them," Dumount says. "Basically you painfully killed their mind, and god knows how much combining those souls was in terms to the pain there," He shakes his head.
Prof_Kain's expression are hard to read, but he seems saddened. "I have done worse, for less reasons. You think too much Lothaire. You're too close. If you don't distance yourself, if you don't stand back from their emotions…"
Dumount sighs, shaking himself. "I'm a doctor sir. I need to care. If I didn't care I would be a piss poor doctor,"
<Prof_Kain>"Even doctors need to do this. And I'm not saying not to care… Just… Learn to switch it off."
"I'm… sorry but I do not agree that I need to step away," Dumount says. "I'm… not a good person, sir. I hate people, they're annoying, whiny, and they constantly get themselves injured or say painful things that hurt me. If I didn't care, I would just give up. And I think… I think you are at least sorry for what you did.. and that is… something. Something that does not show in your logs"
<Prof_Kain>"Well, I have something I do these things for. Maybe you should find something like that too."
<Dumount>"If you say progress sir, I'm going to yell loudly and then beat my face upon yonder wall."
Prof_Kain looks at him coldly. "No. Not progress."
<Dumount>"Good. I didn't figure you the sort but… it's hard to tell. I didn't figure you the sort to… do this either…"
<Prof_Kain>"Do what? Cause the homicide of countless people? Be responsible for the deaths and tortures of all manner of individuals?"
"Yes…" Dumount mumbles with a nod. "You… really didn't seem the sort…"
Prof_Kain snorts, laughing bitterly. "Neither do I son, neither do I."
<Dumount>"An…anyway I don't know how, and I don't know why but… Olympia seems to have taken a liking to me"
<Prof_Kain>"I noticed that. What about it?"
"I… I see…" Dumount says, looking very small in his nervousness "Do… you have any… advice or anything… I mean… you're her paternal figure…"
Prof_Kain thinks about this for a moment. "If I find out you've misled her, manipulated her, or done anything which would detriment her growth or faith in the world, I'll make you suffer," he tells Dumount, without even the slightest hint of malice in his voice, as if just stating a simple fact.
"Kain… I'm a doctor not a deceiver," Dumount intones. "I dislike harming people, and while I am a cynical old bastard I am not going to try to pass that on to a… child"
<Prof_Kain>"As long as we're clear," he replies passively.
<Dumount>"So… you don't have to worry much about that… anyway… If you're working on… further improvements, I would like to submit a couple reports to you of things you can use probably without spending more human life,"
<Prof_Kain>"Hm?"
Dumount slides the reports of 562, 694 and the three SCPs currently awaiting classifications onto Kain's desk.
<Prof_Kain>"Hmmm…. How very interesting…" He looks up. "Tell me Dumount, you do realize everything has a soul, right? Everything feels pain?"
"I am not concerned with non-humans," Dumount says calmly. "If they are useful to humanity then I will accept and assist them. If they serve their use better in other ways well… I eat meat, I swat mosquitoes, and I find medical uses for SCPs. See the medical properties subsection of 562,"
<Prof_Kain>"For someone who "cares", that's incredibly selfish and hypocritical of you."
<Dumount>"I care about people, and humanity Kain. Why should I care about insects that are trying to use humans as… livestock? Why should I care about spiders that try to kill everything I hold dear?"
<Prof_Kain>"Well, humanity seems to use the rest of everything as it pleases. At least the animals and such only have instinct to blame."
"Yes Kain. Instinct. It's humanity's instinct to find uses for things," Dumount says. "It's why we're a technological race."
<Prof_Kain>"And yet you laud its instinct while demeaning the instinct of others."
<Dumount>"I never demeaned instincts Kain. They have their place. It's just that I look out for my own,"
<Prof_Kain>"If you truly embraced this, you would have no problem with the atrocities in this world."
"My own, Kain, is the whole of humanity. I have a problem with atrocities against humanity." Dumount says. He pauses for a moment, then blushes "Um… no offense Kain…"*
Prof_Kain waves it off, having heard this many times before. "None taken," he replies in a tired kind of voice.
<Dumount>"I mean… I switched Aura to be your regular caregiver because of … her understanding your biology far better then I can…. not because of philosophical differences," He sighs, shaking his head. "It's just… look, the Olympia files were a very… unpleasant surprise to me, alright?"
<Prof_Kain>"Then why did you look?"
<Dumount>"… Because Olympia started flirting with me, and I figured I needed to know… Tis better to be informed then uninformed,"
<Prof_Kain>"And has your opinion of her changed because of the way she was created?"
<Dumount>"You're responsible for how she was made, not her,"
<Prof_Kain>"And has your opinion of her changed because of your change of opinion of me?"
<Dumount>"The sins of the father do not pass on to the child sir… that's an elaborate way of saying no."
<Prof_Kain>"Then what exactly is your problem?"
<Dumount>"… I was checking to see if you were… sorry for what you had done."
<Prof_Kain>"What concern is that of yours?"
<Dumount>"… It's the difference between this being a… short term thing, and you actually being a new Hitler or Stalin. It's everyone's concern"
<Prof_Kain>"…"
<Dumount>"… Anyway… You… do seem… at least somewhat haunted by… the ghosts of what you have done. So… you're not a monster today…"
Prof_Kain takes in a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "I'm… I'm going to ignore that statement, simply for the sake of my daught- Sophia. for the sake of Sophia."
<Dumount>"…… I… hate to say this sir but… that wasn't creating life anymore then what I do is creating life"
<Prof_Kain>"But do not think you can simply walk into my office and judge me."
<Dumount>"I judge everyone. Including myself. Especially myself."
<Prof_Kain>"When I inevitably die, and face whatever thing it is on the other side, I will pay for whatever I have done. You do not have that right. You have not experienced the life I have led. The choices I have made. The people… I have left behind. So do not presume to judge me when you do not know the life I have led. Are we clear?"
<Dumount>"… Yes sir. I will no longer state my judgments explicitly. I'm afraid not making them is a bit more difficult then that"
<Prof_Kain>"Lothaire, you don't even know enough to judge yourself."* Prof_Kain immediately looks abashed at this, as if striking a low blow was beneath him.
"On most days I would disagree with that statement" Dumount says "But I will admit I have had a… rash of strange dreams as of late. Why? What do you know?"
Prof_Kain sucks in through his teeth, debating internally. "Never mind."
"… Anyway… I… Think that's all," Dumount says "Those… worm things have some unusual biology. They're under my care. If you want any experiments with them, remember to contact me. I will probably give permission, but the only way to take them out of containment is as larvae"
Prof_Kain moves down, back to reading his papers. "Mm,"
"Um… have a nice day sir" Dumount lets himself out.
<Prof_Kain>"Goodbye."
