[SO2] Profiling (Claude + Chisato + Noel, PG)

[wallwalker]

Title: Profiling
Author: wallwalker
Fandom: Star Ocean: The Second Story
Rating: PG
Characters: Claude, Chisato and Noel (implied Claude/Chisato and Noel/Rena)
Word Count: 433
Warnings: Spoilers for the whole game and the Secret Files
Summary: Chisato is trying to understand why Dr. Lantis did what he did.
Notes: Written for fic_promptly.

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"I can't figure it out," Chisato said softly, staring at the computer monitor with tired eyes.

Some of the others didn't react to her words; they either didn't hear her or didn't know what to say. Decoding those files had been exhausting, anyway, especially for Chisato and Noel. Chisato had been clicking away on the computer ever since they'd finished, and Noel had been even quieter than usual.

Claude stirred, though, then stood up and walked behind her to take a look at the monitor. "What is it?" he asked softly.

"Hm. Sorry. I'm just trying to understand what we learned today. I mean... it doesn't make as much sense anymore, you know?" She took a deep, ragged breath. "When he was just some sort of cold-hearted rebel, well, fighting the way that he did made sense. But now... why would he do that?"

Claude was very quiet. For a second Chisato was sorry for bringing it up; the last thing she'd wanted to do was upset him. Sometimes she forgot that it hadn't been too long. "Yeah," he finally said. "I know."

"Sorry," she said, taking his hand briefly. "I just... I want to understand why he did this, and how. If this man that we're fighting is basically Dr. Lantis... well, he wasn't a monster, was he? He was a person, a father."

"A hurt father," Noel said, finally raising his head. "I mean, I've never had children. But if someone hurt -" He stopped himself, but the slight tilt of his head betrayed him, the way that his eyes flickered over Rena's slight, exhausted frame. "If someone hurt someone you love, wouldn't you want to hurt them back if you could?"

"Yeah." Claude nodded, looking lost. "But... but I don't think I could anything like that."

"He's not really Dr. Lantis anymore, though... I mean, whoever that was. He's just a copy." Noel shook his head. "Think about it. He made a copy of his personality. He could delete anything he wanted, if he thought it would make him weak. How do we know how much is left of him?"

"I don't know," Chisato answered. "I mean... maybe it doesn't matter. We have to stop him either way, right?" She turned away. "I just... thought we could get an edge. Or at least understand why he did this in the first place."

"It was a good idea," Claude said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "But you should get some rest. It's been a long day."

"Yeah." She rubbed her eyes and stood up. "Sure. Let's go get some sleep."