The real Dottore had just gotten back to Snezhnaya after his mission in Sumeru. He had the dendro gnosis after agreeing to a deal with the dendro archon. That was to destroy his clones in exchange for the gnosis.

He locked himself in his laboratory as usual, continuing on the experiments he had abandoned before returning to Sumeru. 'Every experiment is worth a shot' he would say whenever another harbinger or subordinate asked him about his tests.

He was in the middle of an experiment when he heard a knock on the door of his laboratory. Usually his door was open, so he didn't bother saying anything and continued with his experiment. The person would let themselves in eventually.