The sun rose over Mondstadt, painting the cobblestones in hues of soft amber and gold. Inside the guest quarters of t, Ren slept with the deep, untroubled peace of a boy who had unburdened his soul. The heavy secrets of his past were now shared with the stars, resting in Mona's scrying bowl, and for the first time in a long while, his dreams were just dreams—simple, fragmented images of flying over Liyue Harbor and eating dango with Ei.
He woke naturally, stretching his limbs, the cool morning air drifting in through the open window carrying the scent of Windwheel Asters and fresh bread from the Good Hunter. He washed up, dressed in his Liyue tunic, and stepped out into the hallway, ready to face the day while he waited for the stars to align.
He didn't make it three steps.
"PIXIE PRINCE!"
The warning was brief, high-pitched, and rapidly approaching. Before Ren could even turn his head, a blur of bright red and white slammed into him with the force of a jovial cannonball.
"Oof!" Ren gasped, staggering back but managing to keep his footing as small arms locked around his waist in a vice grip.
Klee buried her face in his chest, her backpack—laden with who-knew-what kind of explosive hazards—bumping against his leg.
"You're awake! You're awake!" she squealed, vibrating with an intensity that could power a small village. "I waited for whole minutes outside your door but Lisa said I couldn't wake you up because you were doing 'grown-up sleep' but now you're up and we can go!"
She pulled back, beaming up at him with eyes that shone like rubies. "I missed you so much yesterday! Solitary confinement is super boring, even if I did find a new spider in the corner. But now I'm free! Master Jean said I have to be good, but she didn't say I couldn't go fish blas—"
She froze. Her mouth snapped shut with an audible click. Her eyes went wide, the pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
Ren, whose telepathic empathy was currently tuned to the general vicinity, felt a sudden, icy spike of sheer panic radiate from the small girl. It wasn't a sound; it was a mental scream.
Oh no! Oh no no no! I said the word! I said the B-word! Did Master Jean hear? Is she behind the door? Is she going to add another day? Another week?! No toast for Klee! No adventures! I'm doomed! I'm a doomed Spark Knight!
Ren glanced down the hallway. It was empty. Jean was likely deep in a pile of paperwork in her office, completely oblivious to Klee's slip of the tongue. But to Klee, the walls had ears, and those ears belonged to the Acting Grand Master.
Ren acted quickly. He grabbed Klee's hand, squeezing it gently to ground her.
"Come on, Klee," he said, his voice loud and cheerful, deliberately drowning out her internal panic. "I'm starving! Let's go see if Sara has any Fisherman's Toast before we go looking for… uh… lizards! Yes, lizards. Very quiet, non-explosive lizards."
Klee blinked, the panic receding as she latched onto the lifeline. "Lizards?" she whispered, looking around furtively. "Right! Lizards! We love lizards! Let's go, pixie prince! Fast!"
She tugged him towards the exit, her little boots clattering on the floor, desperate to put as much distance between herself and Jean's office as possible.
They burst out of the headquarters and into the bright morning sun of the city. The moment the heavy oak doors closed behind them, Klee's anxiety evaporated like dew in the desert.
"We're safe!" she declared, puffing out her chest. Then she grinned, grabbing Ren's hand again. "Okay, no fish blasting. But we can still go on an adventure! Have you seen the cat that hangs out behind the tavern? He has three different colors! Or we could go to the statue and see if anyone left apples!"
For the next hour, Ren allowed himself to be dragged through the winding streets of Mondstadt by his enthusiastic guide. Klee's tour was, as always, eclectic. She didn't show him the grand cathedral or the statue of Barbatos; she showed him the loose stone in the wall where she hid her "treasures" (mostly shiny rocks and lizard tails), the best roof for spotting pigeons (to chase, not to blast, she promised), and the specific flower pot where a Dendro slime sometimes tried to hide.
It was a tour of the city through the eyes of a child, a world of small wonders and hidden secrets that most adults walked right past. Ren listened to her chatter, asking questions, laughing at her impressions of Kaeya, and simply enjoying the lightness of being a kid with a friend.
As they rounded the corner near the alchemy crafting bench, the crowd parted slightly. Walking up the main street, dusting a fine layer of snow from his shoulders, was a figure of calm, intellectual elegance.
It was Albedo. The Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius, and Klee's beloved big brother.
He looked as he always did—composed, thoughtful, his teal eyes holding a depth that suggested he was constantly analyzing the fundamental makeup of the world around him. He carried a sketchbook under one arm and a satchel of samples over his shoulder. He had clearly just returned from the freezing heights of Dragonspine.
"Albedo!" Klee shouted, waving her free hand frantically.
Albedo looked up. A soft, genuine smile, rare and precious, touched his lips as he saw them. He stopped, waiting for them to approach.
"Hello, Klee," he said, his voice calm and soothing. He reached out to pat her hat. Then he turned to Ren, offering a polite nod. "And Ren. It is good to see you again. I heard you had returned to our city."
"Hi, Albedo," Ren said. "Just got in yesterday. How was the mountain?"
"Cold," Albedo replied dryly. "And productive. The cryo-hypostasis activity has been… unusual. But I gathered the data I needed."
Klee was bouncing on the balls of her feet, her patience wearing thin. She tugged on the hem of Albedo's coat.
"Albedo! Albedo!" she chirped. "Did you do it? Did you finish the machine? You said you were working on it before you left! The special one!"
Albedo looked down at her, his smile widening slightly. "I did. The final adjustments were made this morning, just before I came down. It is in the laboratory."
Klee gasped, her eyes shining with pure awe. She turned to Ren, grabbing his arm and shaking him. "Ren! You have to see! Albedo made something super cool! It's for me, but you can see it too because you're my best friend!"
Ren looked at Albedo, intrigued. "A machine?"
"A project," Albedo corrected gently. "Something to… assist Klee. And perhaps keep her occupied when I am deep in my research. Would you like to see?"
"Yes, please," Ren said. His inventor's curiosity was instantly piqued. Albedo's creations were not like his own mechanical marvels; they were born of Khemia, the ancient art of creating life. They were biological engineering, alchemy made manifest.
"Follow me," Albedo said.
They headed back into the headquarters, but instead of going to the main office, they climbed the spiral stairs to Albedo's private laboratory. The room was filled with the familiar scent of herbs, chalk, and ozone. Sketches of life forms littered the tables—flowers, insects, and anatomical studies of dragons.
On the central workbench, covered by a white cloth, sat a small, round object.
Klee ran up to the table, her nose barely clearing the edge. "Is that it? Is that it?"
Albedo walked over. "It is."
He reached out and pulled the cloth away.
Sitting on the table was… a Dodoco.
It looked exactly like the fluffy, white-furred, clover-wearing doll that hung from Klee's backpack. It had the same round body, the same floppy ears, the same innocent, button eyes. But as Ren looked closer, he saw subtle differences. The fur had a slight, metallic sheen to it under the lab lights. The seams were invisible.
"It looks just like Dodoco!" Klee cheered.
"Watch," Albedo said.
He reached out and gently pressed his hand onto the doll's head. A faint, golden glow—Geo energy mixed with the white light of creation—pulsed from his palm into the object.
Whirrr-click.
The Dodoco shuddered. Then, its ears twitched.
Ren leaned forward, his azure eyes widening.
The doll didn't just move; it sprang to life. It pushed itself up on stubby, unseen legs beneath its fur. It blinked its button eyes. It looked left, then right, its movements fluid and surprisingly organic.
"Dodoco!" Klee squealed.
The mechanical creature turned towards the sound of her voice. It let out a soft, cheerful sound—not a mechanical beep, but a noise that sounded like a cross between a squeak and a purr.
Wahoo!
It hopped. It sprang into the air with surprising agility, landing with a soft bounce. It wobbled for a second, finding its balance, and then began to trot in a circle on the table, its tail wagging.
"It's alive!" Ren whispered, fascinated.
"Simulated life," Albedo corrected, though there was a note of pride in his voice. "It is a homunculus construct, powered by a kinetic core and guided by a rudimentary alchemical intelligence."
He looked at Klee. "Klee, give it a command."
Klee clasped her hands together. "Dodoco! Hide!"
The doll stopped its trotting instantly. Its ears perked up. It looked around the table, scanning the environment. It spotted a stack of heavy books near the edge. With a quick hop, it scrambled behind the books, flattening its fluffy body against the table, peeking out with one eye.
"It understands?" Ren asked, stunned. "It processes language?"
"Simple commands," Albedo explained. "Hide, seek, follow, stop. It is imprinted on Klee's voice pattern. It utilizes a sound-based triangulation system to navigate."
Klee ran to the other side of the table. "Dodoco! Come here!"
The doll sprang out from behind the books and bounded towards her, stopping right at the edge of the table and letting out another happy Wahoo!
"It can race, too," Albedo said, picking the creature up and setting it on the floor. "It has a gyroscope for balance and pressurized springs in its base for jumping. It can traverse uneven terrain—grass, stone, even shallow water."
Klee was already on the floor with it. "Race you to the door, Dodoco!"
She took off running. The doll hesitated for a fraction of a second, processing the movement, and then shot after her, bouncing along the stone floor with incredible speed, its little legs a blur.
Ren watched it go, his mind racing. This was completely different from his hoverboard or the constructs of King Deshret. Those were machines—complex, brilliant machines, but machines nonetheless. They followed inputs. They obeyed physics.
This… this was almost biological. The way it moved, the way it reacted… it felt like it had a personality. Albedo hadn't just built a toy; he had grown a companion.
"It's amazing," Ren said, looking up at Albedo. "The integration of the sensory input with the kinetic response… how did you manage the latency? It reacts instantly."
Albedo picked up a piece of chalk, sketching a quick diagram on the blackboard. "I used a bio-alchemical nervous system rather than electrical wiring. The signals travel through a conductive fluid that mimics the response time of a living creature. It is… more fragile than your metal constructs, perhaps, but far more adaptive."
Ren glanced at Klee running around with her new small friend, his eyes now tracking the small Dodoco with a look of deep thought.