Chapter Text
Base sequence: human genome confirmed
Alignment: Good-Neutral
Welcome to the data center for the future of mankind.
This is the Security Organization for the Preservation of Humanity, Chaldea.
Yuto’s fingers drummed along the edge of the simulator chair’s armrest impatiently. Yeah, I know, that’s why I’m here.
Fingerprint, voiceprint, and DNA authentication cleared.
Magical Circuit assessment complete.
Username matched - designated ‘Yuto Tohsaka.’
The young magus’ eye twitched. Would it kill you Clock Tower types to say my name properly?
You are recognized as a member of the primates.
Nice to meet you.
We hope you enjoy your time here.
The interior of the pod went silent for a few blessed moments but for the whir of the machinery before the speaker goes off again.
We are very sorry. Another 180 seconds is needed to complete the admission process. Enjoy a simulated battle while you wait.
Regulation: Senior
Contract Servants: Saber, Lancer, Archer
There will be no record of your score.
Please feel free to enjoy.
“No record? Yeah, right,” Yuto muttered. Like hell they won’t. All these research types do is record data. No doubt Chaldea would use the results of this simulation to determine Yuto’s rank as a Master candidate - the veritable pecking order of Chaldea.
The VR headset strapped to Yuto’s head began to boot up as the whirring of magical machinery grew steadily louder all around him. So be it, Yuto thought. Well, practice makes perfect, I guess.
Activating Heroic Spirit Summoning System ‘Fate.’
We hope you have a good experience as a Master for these 180 seconds.
Time to knock ‘em dead.
~~~
Yuto pinched his forehead in fatigue. He felt drained, like he’d stayed up all night watching television, but the dull, aching throb of the Mage’s Crest on his right wrist hurt more than Yuto cared to admit to the Chaldean staff who helped him out of the simulator. By the time he had been led (read: dragged) to the infirmary, his short black hair was soaking wet and his forehead glistened with sweat. Yuto did what little he could to mask his discomfort, but the pretty blonde nurse that took his temperature dispelled that farce quickly enough.
“Now, now, no need to put on a tough face,” she chided pleasantly as she took his temperature. “I know a faker when I see one.”
“What, you want to hear me complain?” Yuto mumbled through the thermometer in his mouth.
“Actually, yes,” she said with a soft smile, her eyes focused on reading his temperature. “It’s usually pretty helpful for a doctor to know what’s ailing her patient.”
“Promise you won’t judge me if I scream a little?” Yuto said with a smirk.
“Well, maybe don’t scream ,” the nurse mused exaggeratedly, “but a few tears here and there wouldn’t be all bad.” The thermometer beeped and the nurse nodded at the reading approvingly. “Yep, nothing unusual there…”
Yuto’s eyebrow curled up. “Nothing unusual about a fever?”
“Not this one, thankfully. It’s pretty low-grade. That and perspiration around the cranium… all pretty common symptoms of mana fatigue. The fever should break within the next half-hour or so and the sweating will stop pretty soon after that so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. A good night’s rest is all you’ll need to set you right.”
“This kind of thing happens pretty often, I take it?”
The nurse nodded. “Oh, yes, mana fatigue is quite common among the Master candidates, especially when it’s your first time in the simulator,” she explained. “Servants can put a fairly high strain on your Magical Circuits no matter how accomplished the magus, let alone three at once. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much. The introductory simulation was meant as a stress test to see what the limits of your Magical Circuits are right now. Give yourself a few rounds in the simulator and it shouldn’t affect you nearly as much as it does now. Does all that make sense?”
“Yeah, that -”
“Hold that thought,” the nurse interrupted, before shoving a cotton swab up his nostril and swirling it around.
Yuto grunted in reply as the woman quickly shoved a cotton swab up his nostril, swirled it around, and pulled it out before Yuto could sneeze on it.
The woman broke off the tip of the swab into a small capsule and sealed it inside before noticing the grimace on Yuto’s face. “I know we already tested you for any diseases or curses before your arrival in Chaldea, but Dr. Archaman likes to be thorough,” the nurse said, answering Yuto’s unspoken question. “Can’t be too careful, right?”
“You couldn’t have said something first?” Yuto asked, annoyed.
The nurse gave him a knowing smirk. “Right, because you would have taken it without complaining?”
“Okay, fair enough,” Yuto reluctantly agreed. As the nurse turned to pull out a drawer from her filing cabinet, Yuto studied her from behind, his eyes tracing the length of her body. Her long ash-blonde hair flowed down the back of her lab coat, tied together by a simple rubber band. Aside from the coat, only the stethoscope dangling over her neck really indicated that she was some kind of doctor; the pale blue blouse tucked into her black office trousers and the brown leather shoes tapping rhythmically on the floor kind of distorted the image a bit. And her eyes… a pale blue the color of…
Yuto averted his gaze in annoyance with himself. Now wasn’t the time to be skirt-chasing, Yuto knew that, yet something about this woman caught his eye - made him forget his decision for just a few moments. He hadn’t even thought of a woman like this for years now, not since -
God, I’m pathetic. Yuto closed his eyes for a moment and breathed out through his nose slowly, forcing his temper to dissipate as the nurse turned back around.
The nurse turned back around with a thick bundle of papers and folders. She popped off the band of string holding the stack together and began skimming the front page.
“Are you planning on double-checking my passport too?” Yuto snarked.
“No, I’ll just have to put my trust in the docking crew on that one. What I’m interested in is your medical history… specifically your Magic Crest.”
Yuto immediately tensed. A magus’ Magic Crest was arguably the most important part of what makes a magus capable of conducting magecraft. All of the cumulative knowledge, spells, and raw power a magus developed for himself was poured into his Crest and passed down to his heir sometimes over the span of centuries - especially where the major families like the Animuspheres of the Clock Tower or the Einzberns of Central Europe were concerned. Even for an upstart mongrel like him, the Magic Crest Yuto inherited from his father was of the utmost importance, the single-most important thing a magus could pass on to his progeny; hell, it was pretty much the only way for a family’s signature magecraft to even be passed on through the ages. To even discuss one’s Magic Crest with an outsider was dangerous, bordering on suicidal depending on the parties involved. At best, the foolish magus would end up losing exclusive knowledge on his family’s magecraft and maybe even have their Crest taken from them. At worst, they’d die. Depending on who you asked, most magi would swap the order of those two outcomes. Most magi would probably see the blonde nurse’s question as a provocation, a threat against their life and pride as a magus. Some might have even outright attacked her for broaching the subject. There was a time in his life where Yuto would have reacted the same way.
But, Yuto was determined to walk a different path.
Yuto’s eyes narrowed coolly. “What about it?” I’ll humor her, Yuto decided. See where this goes.
The nurse clearly noticed the change in his demeanor and could probably imagine the thoughts going through Yuto’s head. She put her hands up as if Yuto were pointing a gun at her - which was not an inaccurate interpretation of the situation on her end, come to think of it - but the look on her face was solemn as she calmly gazed upon her patient. “While you were sitting in that chair trying (and failing) to act tough after we pulled you from the simulator, I went over the data, specifically the mana flow from your Magic Circuits to your contracted Servants. Your aptitude was…”
The nurse seemed to be lost for words so Yuto provided them. “Abysmal?”
She shook her head in dissent. “No, far from it. Mr. Tohsaka, your aptitude as a Master is nothing short of fantastic. You easily have one of the highest scores for Master compatibility in Chaldea, scoring just under Team A and on par with our Clock Tower consultant. Strange, wouldn’t you say? An upstart magus with no real history of magic just appearing from thin air with a high Master score? Rather unlikely, don’t you think?”
Yuto chose not to respond, the accuracy of the woman’s suppositions beginning to annoy him.
The nurse eyed him for a moment before continuing. “Aptitude aside, when it comes to the actual quality and number of your Magic Circuits themselves compared with those of the members of ‘A’ Team it’s like night and day. In that regard, your test readings are nearly indistinguishable from one of our consultants - a Third-Generation magus with low quality Circuits and few enough of them to boot… but a former Master in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, which is known to heavily skew the results of the test.”
The woman gave Yuto a look, probably trying to prompt him to say something, but Yuto answered it with cold silence.
“Taking that into account, things start to make a bit more sense,” she said, putting her hands down and sitting down at her desk chair. “Being a former Master would explain your aptitude, but your Circuits… Well, to borrow your word, they’re abysmal. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they look like they were activated only recently - probably within the last fifteen years or so. Forced to activate, most likely.”
She gave Yuto another expectant look.
“Your point?” Yuto decided to say.
The nurse frowned with such obvious sadness that Yuto almost had to remind himself to be angry. “I knew it.” She paused for a moment before adding some steel to her voice. “I don’t know what happened to make your body like this nor will I pretend to understand why you would come here of all places afterwards, but I feel it’s my responsibility to tell you this: If you continue doing this to yourself, you’ll -”
“Die?” Yuto supplied.
The nurse gave him an icy stare.
“Look, I appreciate the concern. Really, I do. But I’ll be fine,” Yuto lied. “So, am I cleared to be a Master here or not?”
The nurse’s chilly gaze lingered for a moment before collapsing into a tired sigh, like sunlight breaking through a bank of storm clouds. “The higher-ups liked what they saw; I couldn’t reject you even if I wanted to for your own safety. So, yes, it looks like you’re cleared for duty as a Master of Chaldea. Just - will you do me a favor?”
“Depends,” Yuto said. After a moment, Yuto said, “What is it?”
The nurse brushed a strand of blonde hair back behind an ear and fixed Yuto with those bright blue eyes. “Just - try not to push yourself too hard, alright?”
The obvious sincerity with which she spoke instantly made Yuto feel remorse - or something close to it - for his doubts. “Sure. ‘Doctor’s orders’ and all that, right?” Yuto stood up from the chair and walked over to the office door, the automatic locks hissing as the door slid open at his approach. He paused and turned in the door frame to look at the blonde-haired nurse one last time. “You know, I never did catch your name.”
The nurse saw the thin smile on his face and returned it gladly. “Fenna van Blair.”
“Van Blair, huh? I’d had you pegged for one of the big magus family types,” Yuto said with amusement.
“That’s nice of you to say, but I’m only second-rate as a magus. I’m only here because Dr. Archaman recommended me.”
Yuto blinked in surprise before settling into a slight smirk. “Looks to me like us upstarts ought to be looking out for each other, huh?” As Yuto turned to walk out the door towards the Command Room, he recalled the sad smile on the nurse’s face as he left her. Maybe it won’t be too bad here after all.
~~~
The darkness of the observation room was countered by the wall-to-wall coverage of screens and monitors reflecting light across every face in the room. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Chaldean staff at their workstations were two mages watching footage of a Master Candidate’s simulator footage.
“And now for the last one,” Lev Lainur said passively. The green coat and top hat the tall mage wore made him look like a leprechaun, though the absurdity of the choice in garments didn’t seem to dampen the man’s swaggering charisma. The mage looked over at his colleague questioningly. “Are you certain it was necessary for us to clear 48 Master Candidates?”
The other mage, a man in his early forties clad in a dark suit with a red overcoat, focused his attention on the monitor as a dark-haired Japanese youth appeared in the simulation, flanked by a trio of Servants. “Certain? Hardly.” Waver Velvet said simply. “Merely a precaution. From what I’ve read, Chaldea’s been treading uncharted waters since Marisbury’s day and now Olga-Marie is having us swim into the deep end, blind to what may lurk below its depths. Rayshift technology in and of itself is dangerous for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the very real possibility that we may lose a Master during a faulty Rayshift. Not to mention the dangers present in the Singularities themselves.” Waver quieted as he watched the simulated Saber slash at an enemy golem with her weapon, her all-too familiar sword cleaving her foe in two.
“I can understand wanting a few spares, but 41 of them? Ye of little faith, my friend. I’d try not to talk like that around Kirschtaria.”
Waver chose not to respond, instead observing the Master Candidate hoop and holler in praise of his Servants as they battled their foes. The sight almost made him feel nostalgic. Almost. But now wasn’t the time for that.
The sound of a door sliding open behind them made the two men turn to see a shapely woman approach them, dark silky locks framing her face and her strange staff tapping a steady rhythm as she crossed the room.
“Ah, Caster,” Lev greeted her. “I take it the prep work for the orientation is finished?”
The Servant nodded. “We’re ready whenever you are. I was wondering where you two were.” She looked over at the monitors curiously. “Is there anyone still doing their simulations?”
“One, but I think he’s almost done,” Lev said, gesturing to the monitor they were watching. The mage smirked at the sight of the youth running over to his victorious Servants as the last enemy disappeared. “Excitable fellow, isn’t he?”
“We could certainly use some pep around here, what with the Director putting everyone so on edge lately,” Caster said.
Waver nodded absently as he watched the video feed. He almost reminds me of Flat , he thought to himself. It’d been a while since the last El-Melloi Class get-together and, much as he would have vehemently denied it, the former Lord of the Clock Tower missed his little crop of geniuses and troublemakers. Each one of them had graduated from the Clock Tower as full-fledged magi and scattered across the globe to pursue their dreams - save for one.
He noticed that his hand had snaked itself into his pockets to rest on the cell phone Grey had given him.
For emergencies! Or, or in case you need me! Maybe call once a day? You know I’ll worry otherwise, sir.
Waver smiled thinly. Yeah, far too long…
“El-Melloi? You listening?” Lev’s voice dragged him from his thoughts.
“Yeah, sorry,” Waver apologized. The boy on screen laughed and laid back on the grass as his Servants blinked out of existence and the simulation began to disappear around him. He flashed his pearly teeth with a carefree smile, clearly pleased with his performance. He really does remind me of Flat , Waver thought with a slight grimace. And with that, his mind was made up. “He’ll do,” the Lord said suddenly. “Clear him and get him down to the orientation. No sense waiting any longer.”
Lev and Caster both nodded, the three of them leaving the room together, before Lev departed to run a last-minute errand before the meeting.
~~~
Fujimaru Ritsuka awoke to find the strangest creature he had ever seen sitting on his chest lapping at his cheek with its little tongue. Ritsuka drowsily watched it for a moment, even taking a second to think about how soft and ticklish it was, before the sudden realization that a strange, unidentified creature was currently licking him shot through his mind.
“Ahh!” Ritsuka yelped, springing up from his sprawled state to send the small creature jumping backwards from him in surprise before hopping over to rest at the feet of the girl kneeling next to him, her own look of surprise plain on her pale face.
“...Umm. Since it’s neither morning nor night, please wake up, Senpai.” The lilac-haired girl spoke in a quiet, uncertain voice.
Ritsuka blinked. “W- who are you?”
“That’s a hard question to answer so suddenly. Maybe I’m not important enough for you to know my name?” The girl spoke with an almost monotone, emotionless voice.
Ritsuka blinked again, dumbfounded. “Uh, no, I’m pretty sure I’ve never met you before in my life.” He ran his hand through his thick black hair. “But you do have a name, though, right? Everyone has a name.”
The girl shifted absentmindedly as the weird cat-dog-squirrel-thing snuggled up next to her legs. “I do - a proper one,” she said as if she was reassuring herself more than him. “But, I never really have the chance to use it… I’m afraid I don’t leave a good first impression.”
Ritsuka strongly disagreed with that, but before he had the chance to say so the girl spoke up again.
“Can I ask you a question, Senpai? You were asleep, but I don’t see why you’d sleep in the hall. Can you not sleep unless you’re on a hard bed?”
“I was asleep?” Ritsuka didn’t remember falling asleep, nor did he remember being in a situation that would cause him to fall asleep, but he supposed that did make sense considering how this whole situation started.
“Yes, like a log,” the girl insisted. “It was such a deep sleep, it was almost textbook.”
She says that like she’s never seen someone else sleeping before. The girl was starting to weird Ritsuka out.
“Fou! Kyuuu! Kyao!” The weird critter barked again.
“Oh, I completely forgot.” The girl scooped up the furry creature in her arms. “I still haven’t introduced you yet, have I, Fou? This squirrel-like creature is Fou. He’s a Privileged Life-Form allowed to freely walk around Chaldea. Fou led me here, and that’s how I ran into you, Senpai.”
“What, like a company dog?” Ritsuka asked. He’d heard of the concept but it didn’t seem either safe or reasonable for something like Fou to be running around someplace like Chaldea. Ritsuka couldn’t see how Fou could get through the day without being stepped on at least once or twice.
“Fou. Mmkyu, Fou!” Fou barked again before scampering off. Ritsuka watched him go for a minute before the girl got his attention by saying probably the most unnecessary observation he’d ever heard.
“He ran off somewhere again. He does that sometimes, just walks around.”
“Huh,” Ritsuka deadpanned. “What a funny little guy.”
The girl smiled thinly and tucked a stray strand of her silky purple hair back behind her ear. “Indeed. He normally stays away from anyone aside from me, but he seems to like you, Senpai. Congratulations, now you shall be the second caretaker of Fou in Chaldea.”
Ritsuka maintained a somewhat neutral expression despite his growing confusion. Am I being indoctrinated?
“Ah, there you are, Mash.” A hard yet polite voice came from a leprechaun-looking man now standing behind the girl. “You shouldn’t be wandering about without permission, you know.”
“M-Mr. Lainur,” Mash stammered uncomfortably. “I’m very sorry, sir.” The lilac-haired girl shrunk in his presence, her voice softening in deference.
The man seemed ready to say something else to her when he suddenly recognized Ritsuka’s existence. “Oh, I see now. Mash must have been eager to introduce herself to one of our incoming rookies!”
The nervous expression on the girl’s — Mash’s — face seemed to indicate anything but, but the man continued on amicably and put out his hand in greeting.
“I’m Lev Lainur, one of the technicians employed here. And you are…?”
Ritsuka took the man’s hand and was pulled to his feet. “Fujimaru Ritsuka, sir.”
“Fujimaru, huh?” Mr. Lainur mused genially. “Ah, so you’re the last of the 48 candidates. Excellent! That makes this easy, then.”
“Sir?” Ritsuka asked.
“I was actually on my way to see how much longer you’d be in the simulator,” Lainur explained. “Orientation can’t start until we’re both down there, you see, so we’d best head that way before the Director blows a fuse.”
First day here and I might already be in trouble! Ritsuka gulped nervously at the thought.
“We can chat on the way there. Mash, you come too.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lev Lainur led the two teenagers down the hall, Ritsuka trying his hardest to keep up with the older man’s long, rhythmic stride. Mash, for her part, seemed to move in a state of constantly switching between a light jog and slight shuffling when she got too close to her superior.
“Welcome to Chaldea, Ritsuka. I’m glad you’re here,” Lev said as they walked (read: jogged) . “I heard you were one of the public applicants. How long have you been a magus? A year? Six months? Three?”
“Hah, hah,” Ritsuka huffed and puffed. “No, I’m… I didn’t go through any training.” That wasn’t entirely true, but what else could Ritsuka say? ‘Sorry, I never had formal training, but I did sneak a couple of spell books out of dad’s library once or twice!’
Mr. Lainur nodded like that was what he already expected. “Oh? So you’re a complete amateur? Right… Come to think of it, we did call for applicants just to fill the consultant’s quota…”
Ritsuka knew he should be offended by that, but his implication hit too close to home. I only got in because of a quota, huh?
Mr. Lainur noticed Ritsuka’s silence, his expression softening slightly. “Forgive me, that was inconsiderate. But please don’t be discouraged because you’re a public applicant. You’re all going to be essential for this mission. 38 elite magi, plus ten public applicants… I’m still surprised we were able to get everyone together for this. That’s something to rejoice over. This year, 2017, all possible candidates we could find capable of Spiritron Dives were brought to Chaldea. Well, I shouldn’t get carried away; the Director will discuss that at length during your Orientation among other things. If there’s something you don't understand after the Orientation, please don’t hesitate to ask Mash or I anytime.” Mr. Lainur turned to glance at Mash for a moment. “Come to think of it, what were the two of you talking about on the floor earlier, Mash? That’s not like you.”
“I saw him sleeping there, so I just…” The girl trailed off, her hands idly fidgeting with the edges of her grey jacket as she walked.
“Sleeping? On the floor?” Lainur questioned. “Ah, you’d just gotten done with the introductory simulation, is that right? Believe you me, Spiritron Dives can get to you if you’re not used to them. Are you still feeling groggy?”
“A little, yeah,” Ritsuka admitted, deciding not to mention that the three of them racing through the halls wasn’t exactly helping in that department.
“Hmm. You seem to be fine, but we should probably swing by the infirmary just in case…” The older magus silently mused for a few moments before shrugging. “Sorry, you’ll have to hang in there a little longer, Ritsuka. The Director’s orientation comes first. Trust me, your health will only be more in question if we keep her waiting any longer.”
They soon arrived in front of a pair of sliding doors. Ritsuka could hear a loud woman’s voice through the doors.
“Alright, this is where I leave you.” Mr. Lainur said with a smile. “I’ve got some things to take care of. Mash, you’ll take him to the infirmary after you’re finished here?”
She nodded curtly. “Yes, I’ll take good care of senpai .”
Ritsuka’s eyebrow raised at that. “I feel like I ought to be calling you senpai , Mash.”
Mash blushed and was about to say something when Mr. Lainur cut her off. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, Ritsuka,” he said with a look of amusement. “To her, every human your age is her senpai after a fashion. Now, get on inside, you two. We shouldn’t delay the inevitable much longer.”
As the older man turned to walk away, Ritsuka spoke up. “Thank you, Mr. Lainur. I owe you one.”
Mr. Lainur turned back to face Ritsuka with a curious look on his face. “Hmm. You’re welcome and I’ll remember that.” At that, and with a courteous tip of his hat, Lev Lainur strode back down the hall.
Ritsuka allowed himself a thin smile as Mash tugged at his hand to lead him into the Command Room to face a torrent of yelling.
~~~
“ FINALLY! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG YOU’VE KEPT ME WAITING! YOU’D BETTER HAVE AN EXCUSE FOR THIS! I -”
“Oh, my god, shut up…” Yuto muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. He’d been surprised that as fussy as Chaldea seemed about protocol, they didn’t have assigned seating for the orientation so Yuto naturally picked the furthest seat in the room from the speaker far in the corner between a Chinese girl with long black twin tails that damn near dusted the floor and the most flamboyantly-masculine middle-aged man he’d ever seen. With the girl’s nose so deep into her book she’d probably stained it black with ink and the guy chattering non-stop with the person on the other side of him, Yuto had been left to brood in relative silence that was periodically broken by the Director’s incessant and noisy bitching. All of that had built up over the course of twenty minutes past the original start time for the orientation until the white-haired woman finally exploded when two teenagers crept into the room, their faces white with cold dread as the Director vented every little complaint and inconvenience at them.
The flamboyant guy lightly chuckled at Yuto’s annoyance. “Now, now, you shouldn’t be too harsh on the Director. She’s had a rather tough time lately. Isn’t that right, Akuta-chan?”
The girl on Yuto’s left made a barely-audible huff as she glanced up from her book at the Director for a brief moment before flicking back down to her page. “I don’t care. Leave me out of this, Pepe.”
The guy — Pepe — leaned towards Yuto uncomfortably close, forcing Yuto to shift away from the strange man. “You see, Olga-Marie-chan’s father, Marisbury, created Chaldea behind her back. I heard that she was barely even involved for most of it until he suddenly died a few months back. Olga-Marie then had to shoulder all of her father’s responsibilities, almost cracking under all that pressure! Isn’t that awful ?”
This guy talks like a tabloid , Yuto mused. He considered Pepe’s words and looked back at the Director still firing off at the two teenagers, a long-haired man in a suit looking like he was trying and failing to make her calm down. “Pretty sure she’s way past cracking at this point,” Yuto reflected.
Pepe gave a perverse little chuckle at that, but Yuto turned to look at the girl with her book. “Your name’s Akuta, right? I’m Yuto.”
“I didn’t ask.”
Yuto mentally frowned at that, but decided to ignore that. He tilted his head to see the title of the book she was reading, but considering the fact that it was written in Korean, he had little luck figuring that out on his own. But, judging from the cover art… “That’s one of those Chinese manga , right? Man - something?”
“A manhwa , yes. And it’s Korean, not Chinese.”
Yuto blinked dully. Roll with it. “Uh huh, and that’s, um, like a comic book?”
“Why do you care?”
“I just thought it looked cool,” Yuto lied. “What’s it about?”
Akuta’s silence was more deafening than the Director’s bitching.
“What’s it about?” Yuto asked again, applying as much honey to his voice as possible.
Akuta finally sighed. “It’s about… it’s about a girl from medieval times who gets summoned to the future. She goes on adventures in her boarding school… I guess.”
With how much of a struggle she seemed to have forcing those words out, Yuto almost felt compelled to give her a round of applause. Deciding that that would be a particularly horrible idea, he instead went with saying, “Wow, that sounds cool. What’s it called?”
After waiting an obligatory twenty seconds, Yuto repeated his question, to which Akuta mumbled, “‘I’ve Been Summoned to the 21st Century and Now I Go to High School.’”
“You’re fucking with me,” Yuto decided. “You can’t be serious.”
Pepe, who was apparently listening in on that train wreck of a conversation the whole time, chimed in. “I’ve never known her to joke about anything. She’s definitely serious.” The older man sounded almost mystified.
“Oh, come on, there’s no way it’s called that!”
Akuta made an angry little noise and shifted further away from them in her chair. “You know what, I don’t even know why I bothered to tell you. Just leave me alone.” And with that, Akuta planted her nose even deeper into her book and proceeded to completely ignore Pepe and Yuto.
Yuto turned to Pepe. “She’s a little prickly today,” he observed.
“Oh, Akuta-chan’s always like that,” Pepe said genially.
“That sounds… awful.”
“It’s not so bad. She’s just a little shy,” the older man said with a grin.
Yuto returned the grin. “But not you, huh?”
Pepe’s grin warped into a deviously wide smile. “Oh, honey, you have no idea.” The older man put out his hand. “Scandinavia Peperoncino.”
“Excuse you.”
Pepe laughed at that. “That’s my name , thank you. ‘Pepe’ is the shortened version. And yours is…?”
Yuto shook his hand reluctantly. “Tohsaka Yuto. And no, Yuto isn’t short for anything.”
He turned back towards the front as the Director’s screeching finally died down into a series of loud huffs and puffs. As the dark haired guy and pink haired girl in glasses tottered over to their seats in the front row (ouch, that’s unfortunate) , Yuto muttered to Pepe, “Kind of feel bad for them, now.”
“Oh they’ll be fine,” Pepe muttered back. “If the Director was really mad, she’d have just had them removed from Chaldea.”
“Hmm,” was all Yuto said as the Director clapped her hands together a few times.
“Well, that wasn’t on time, but it looks like we’re all here now.” The Director brushed a lock of her white hair back into place before giving a particularly forced smile. “Welcome to Special Organization, Chaldea. I’m the director, Olga-Marie Animusphere. You have been selected, or discovered from each nations for your rare talents. By talent, I’m of course referring to your aptitude for Spiritrons. Each one of you have been chosen because your magical circuits make you capable of becoming Masters. I’m sure you can’t even imagine it, but be sure to keep this in mind -”
“God, could she sound more up her own ass?” Yuto muttered, earning himself an amused little titter from Pepe.
“You are about to be reborn as cutting-edge magi, in an unprecedented fusion of magecraft and science,” the Director continued. “That said, although all of you possess special talents, none of you are special. Understand that you’re all inexperienced rookies, standing at the same starting point.”
“Speak for yourself,” Yuto heard another magus sitting in front of him say.
“In particular, the magi sent from the Association still seem to be acting like students. Fix that immediately. Chaldea is my domain. Your family heritage and personal achievements mean nothing here.”
As annoying and self-important as Olga-Marie Animusphere came across as, Yuto couldn’t help but agree with that bit. Association magi did tend to have a superiority complex.
“Always remember that my orders are absolute, as well as those given by our team of administrators,” the Director continued, gesturing briefly at the row of strangely dressed (normal by magus standards, Yuto supposed) men and women sitting behind her. “Arguing will get you nowhere but the next plane out of here. You’re all mere tools to protect humanity, nothing more. Never forget -”
The Director trailed off in the face of the majority of candidates that she had just blatantly insulted, all of them beginning to make loud comments about her and the contents of her ‘orientation speech.’ Her face blanched at the commotion, clearly looking unsure of herself when the same suited man from earlier gently clapped his hand on her shoulder and spoke a few words to her before quietly motioning for her to step back.
Yuto’s ears popped when a loud BANG echoed across the room, the commotion immediately dying down in confusion. The suited mage lowered his hand and nodded to the Director who cleared her throat. “Ahem, thank you. Now, we’ll hear a few words from one of our Magus Association consultants.”
She quickly sat down as the magus took her place, assuming a casual stance. “Thank you, Director,” the magus spoke in a tone that demanded far more respect than the Director’s. “My name is Waver Velvet. Some of you may know me as the former Lord El-Melloi. Some of you may have even had me as your instructor in Modern Magecraft Theories at the Clock Tower. But none of that matters now. Now, here in Chaldea, I’ll be serving as an authority on the Holy Grail Wars as well as the ‘Fate’ Summoning System which each and every one of you will be relying upon in the coming months. As the Director has already stated, your previous achievements and heritage will be left at the door, as well as your other petty, personal problems that get in the way of our work. Because now you’re here to serve as a Master of Chaldea, with a Servant contracted to you, and a certified professional magus tasked with extraordinary responsibility far beyond the scope of conventional magecraft.” His piercing gaze swept across each and every face in the crowd individually. “We chose each and every one of you based on your personal, individual merit that we believed your inclusion would bring to this program. But it seems that we may have judged poorly in the case of some of you.” The former Lord shrugged lightly before affixing his icy stare at the now uncertain faces before him. “We will answer your concerns as best we can here and now. So let’s get on with this so we can move forward.”
By now, everyone had returned to their seats and gave the magus their full attention, which Yuto found mildly impressive. He watched as one of the girls close to the front shakily raised her hand to catch the Lord’s attention. “Sir, we c-came all this way on your - Chaldea’s - insistence. Isn’t ‘absolute obedience’ a little much to ask?”
A couple of heads in the crowd nodded at that, one of the guys saying, “She’s right, that’s way overstepping! Isn’t lineage the most important asset for a magus?! You can’t just brush it off!”
El-Melloi shook his head in dissent. “To answer your question, young lady, ‘absolute obedience,’ as the Director put it, is a requirement for this endeavor. Each and every one of you will be diving into harsh and dangerous environments utterly foreign to you, the only resources for you to draw upon on site being your Servants and the Command Staff back here in Chaldea, who will be relaying information vital to your survival and giving you orders to maximize the chances of both succeeding in your mission and in bringing you home alive. Failure to heed that information, or in following the orders they give to you based on that information, will almost certainly spell your swift demise - something we’d like to avoid if at all possible.”
The older magus turned to look at the boy who’d spoken up. “As for your lineage, that, as well as every other merit and shortcoming you bring to Chaldea, was already taken into consideration before you ever stepped foot in these halls. Whether your lineage is twenty generations long or if you’re the first magus to ever create a spark in your family, we chose you. You are here because we wanted you because we liked what we saw in you. In that respect, we are in no way ‘brushing it off.’ But, now that you’re here, you will be expected to act like the professional we believe you’re capable of being, rather than continuing to act like schoolchildren who need to be coddled and praised.”
Yuto smiled at that. Anyone who could dress down an arrogant magus so thoroughly couldn’t be too bad - even if he was from the Clock Tower.
“For those of you who aren’t satisfied by those answers, you have my blessing to leave. We don’t have time to waste on immature children who can’t take orders in the field.” El-Melloi looked around the room again. “Anyone else?” When no one answered, he turned to return to his seat. Olga-Marie Animusphere stood back up again, looking as if she had finally collected herself, and re-assumed her place before the assembled magi.
“Thank you, Lord El-Melloi,” she said stiffly. “Well, I see no one’s dropped out. Good!”
Trying to convince yourself there, Director?
“Seriously, as Lord El-Melloi said, we don’t have time for such matters. I hope you’ll come to realize that’s how dire our - no, humanity’s - situation is now. Look, he’s a good example: no argument, no opinion. Just good and obedient.” The Director was looking at the dark-haired youth she’d yelled at before when she suddenly stopped her spiel. “A-are you seriously asleep? How dare –! ”
The Director swung her hand back and smacked the guy so hard he fell off his chair into the pink-haired girl’s lap.
“If he was asleep, he’s sure not waking up now,” Pepe commented.
“ Senpai !” The pink-haired girl yelped in surprise at the event and most of the room began to chatter. “Did you see that?!” “She just hit that guy!”
“Mash, take him outside - I won’t tolerate any more interruptions,” the Director huffed.
“Yes, of course, Director. I’m very sorry -”
“ JUST GO!”
Mash bowed her head quickly before dragging the boy’s unconscious body out of the Command Room. Yuto noticed the Velvet guy pinching the bridge of his nose in embarrassed annoyance just as he had a couple of minutes ago and mentally sighed in understanding.
Today’s gonna be a long one for all of us, huh?
~~~
Ritsuka woke up to the firm feeling of Mash rhythmically smacking his right cheek, a worried look in her pale, lilac eyes. Ritsuka’s left cheek, however, was throbbing like crazy.
“Oh, good you’re awake,” Mash let out a sigh of relief. “Are you alright, Senpai ?”
“Yeah… no, no I’m not,” Ritsuka muttered, his hand instinctively moving to touch his throbbing cheek.
Mash caught his hand in hers and shook her head. “Don’t. It looks like it’s already swelling.”
“Swelling? What happened?”
A sympathetic look crossed her face. “You… don’t remember? You fell asleep in the orientation and the Director slapped you. I… think she meant to wake you up, but she smacked you so hard she knocked you out.” Mash let out a relieved breath. “But it looks like you’ve come to. Thank goodness.”
Ritsuka could feel himself start sweating bullets. I fell asleep?! “How long…?”
He trailed off, lost for words, but Mash caught his meaning. “You missed the orientation, senpai. You’ve been left out of the first mission, too. I was going to take you back to your room after you woke — Oh!”
“Squirrel!” Ritsuka tried to warn her belatedly.
The Very Important Life-form, or whatever Mash had called the weird squirrel dog thing, had bounded up and jumped up onto Mash’s shoulder from behind, quickly scrambling around to assault her face before settling on her shoulder like a parrot.
“No, no, this is normal. No problem at all. Fou just likes to attack my face, slide around to my back, and sit on my shoulder.”
Ritsuka blinked. “How does that happen often enough to get used to that?”
“I don’t know. He’s just always done that with me since he came here,” Mash explained while reaching up to scratch beneath Fou’s furry chin, earning herself a few yips and ‘ fous’ from the critter. “Hmm, hmm. It looks like Fou’s embraced you as one of his own, Senpai. But can a squirrel who sees humans as rivals exist in this world?”
“Don’t look at me, I have no idea,” Ritsuka was forced to say. Seriously, this girl is weird .
“Well, knowing Fou as I do, I’m sure he’ll forget it by tomorrow.” Mash stood up and offered her hand. Ritsuka took it and let her help him to his feet. “We should get going. I’m supposed to show you to your room.”
Ritsuka allowed himself to be led through the maze-like network of fluorescent-lit hallways, absently watching Fou nuzzle into and mess with Mash’s pale pink hair until they arrived outside a room that looked identical to all the rest in the hall.
“Here we are, Senpai.”
“Thanks for showing me. I’d have definitely gotten lost,” Ritsuka admitted.
Mash nodded seriously. “That happened to me a lot for a while. But you’ll get used to it. Goodbye, Senpai.”
As she turned to leave with Fou, Ritsuka spoke without thinking. “What team are you on, Mash?” Her questioning look when she faced him again made him stammer, “Y-you know, I didn’t know if you were on my team since you were the one showing me around?” Smooth, Fujimaru.
If Mash thought there was something off about that explanation, she certainly didn’t act like it. “First Mission, ‘A’ Team. Speaking of which, I need to head back now and get ready. We’re the first ones out today.”
Ritsuka found his hand rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, that makes sense. ‘A’ Team would go first, yeah, of course. See you then…”
Ritsuka watched Mash go down the hall for a moment before turning back towards the door to his new room and sighing. Of course, she’d be in ‘A’ Team. And just my luck that I can’t go with her.
As Ritsuke slid his ID card to open the door, he noticed three things in exactly the opposite order of importance. Firstly, the lights were on, which seemed odd because Mash had acted like this was a room no one was supposed to be in but him since it was, well, his room. Secondly, the room smelled like hot mustard, like someone had been eating in here. Again, odd. It was only after those two factors were identified that Ritsuka actually honed in on the strange, unidentified man lounging on his bed eating a sandwich.
Said unidentified man locked eyes with Ritsuka mid-bite for a few tense moments before throwing down his food and crying out, “ WHAT? Who are you? This is an empty room! Th-th-this is where I slack off! Who gave you permission to come in?”
Ritsuka was so thoroughly stunned that he only raised his key card in response, which elicited a groan from the man. As Ritsuka slowly came to grips with the situation, he took in some details about the man before him. The guy was clearly some kind of scientist (who else wears a lab coat like that?) with a little lanyard dangling around his neck with the same kind of ID Ritsuka had attached to it. His fluffy orange hair was tied back into a loose ponytail that still left much of his hair wild and unrestrained as it flowed almost over his eyes, which were a cat-like yellow where they weren’t red from being clearly bloodshot.
“Oh, so the last one finally showed up, huh? I was kind of hoping I’d get to hold onto this spot a bit longer…” the man pouted for a moment before flashing a tired but welcoming smile. “Well, nice to meet you, Fujimaru-kun, despite the, uh, admittedly odd circumstances. I never thought I’d run into you like this, how crazy is that, huh?” The man got up and crossed the room to offer a handshake (Ritsuka noticed to his dismay that the man’s white gloves were stained with grease from his food; seriously, who eats food with gloves on?) . “Let’s start off on the right foot. Romani Archaman, head of the medical department. For some reason, people just call me Dr. Roman. I guess it’s just easier to pronounce, so go ahead and call me Roman. Come to think of it, ‘Roman’ has a nice ring to it, right? Like, it’s cool but also somewhat sweet.”
Ritsuka mentally shrugged at the doctor’s strange display and shook his hand. “Fujimaru Ritsuka, but I guess you already knew that. It’s nice to meet you, Doctor Roman.”
Dr. Roman smiled at the exchange before his eyes lit up in shock as Fou pounced up onto Ritsuka’s shoulder.
“Huh? Is that the mysterious creature I’ve heard so much about? Nice to meet you, little guy!” The doctor extended his hand in greeting towards Fou, who only sniffed his stained gloves before turning away in disinterest.
Dr. Roman looked a little hurt at the rejection but recovered quickly with a sheepish grin. “Mash told me a lot about him, but I was starting to think he didn’t really exist… A-anyway, I think I’m starting to get the picture. You’re that rookie who just got here and then got on the Director’s bad side right?”
Ritsuka’s cheek throbbed in response to that. How long was I out for that to spread so fast?! “Yeah, something like that,” Ritsuka was forced to admit.
Dr. Roman laughed. “Then you and I are alike. I actually got yelled at by her too. It’s practically a badge of honor at this point, you know? Anyway, you know the Rayshift experiment’s about to start, right? The entire staff’s on their feet to help out. But since my job’s to look after everyone’s health, I didn’t have much to do. The machines are more accurate at reading the vitals of the magi in the Coffins than I am outside them. The Director said, “When you’re here, Romani, everyone slacks off!” Then she kicked me out. So I figured I’d finish my lunch from earlier,” he said, pointing out his half-eaten sandwich now leaking out onto Ritsuka’s white sheets. “But that’s when you showed up. This is what they call a ‘blessing in disguise,’ right? Since neither of us have anything better to do, why don’t we spend some time and deepen our friendship!”
“Uh, sure,” Ritsuka said. “But you’re cleaning that up first.” He drew Dr. Roman’s attention back to the bed and the doctor’s face blushed.
“Oh, uh, alright,” the doctor said cautiously when the intercom mounted to the ceiling buzzed. “Romani, we’re going ahead with the Rayshift soon. Could you come in case there’s an emergency? The ‘A’ Team’s in perfect condition, but ‘B’ Team’s less experienced and they’re displaying some slight abnormalities. I’m guessing anxiety; the Coffins got their names for a reason,” Mr. Lainur’s voice echoed through Ritsuka’s room.
Roman moved over to the monitor bolted into the wall and pressed a button. “Uh, hey Lev, I feel bad for them,” Dr. Roman said unconvincingly. “Why don’t I give them some anesthesia?”
“Just hurry up, will you? It should only take a few minutes to get here from the infirmary.”
“But this isn’t the infirmary, though.” Ritsuka looked at Dr. Roman accusingly.
“Please don’t mention that…” the doctor quietly pleaded as the intercom clicked off. “It’s gonna take five minutes from here, no matter what… Well, I think they’ll forgive me for being a little late. ‘B’ Team’s not supposed to head out for another hour or so.”
Isn’t that a little irresponsible? Ritsuka wondered before looking around the room again, being reminded of what Dr. Roman had been doing only minutes before.
“The guy over the intercom was Lev Lainur, by the way,” Dr. Roman explained unnecessarily. “He’s the magus who created the Near-Future Observation Lens, Sheba — the telescope we use to observe that pseudo-planet, Chaldeas.” When the doctor realized that Ritsuka didn’t understand a word of that, he said, “Sheba basically calculates a bunch of possible futures for humanity, which we use to determine events in the future that may pose a risk of ending human civilization. Sheba not only observes Chaldeas, but also serves as a surveillance system for most of this facility. Our previous director, Olga-Marie’s father, was the one who built the summoning/unsummoning system, which is the foundation of the Rayshift tech - which is what they’re testing right now. To actualize that theory, we got our hands on a Pseudo-Spiritron Calculation Engine (basically a big supercomputer) , courtesy of the Atlas Institute. All these different amazing people all came together to carry out this mission.” Dr. Roman gave another sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck the same way Ritsuka always did. “It’s kind of pointless for an ordinary doctor like me to be there, but if I’m summoned, I’ve got to go. It was good chatting with you, Fujimaru-kun!”
“Thanks, Dr. Roman, but call me Ritsuka. It feels weird to have you use my family name when I’m just calling you by your first name.”
Dr. Roman nodded. “No problem, Ritsuka. When you’ve gotten settled in, swing by the infirmary. I’ll treat you to some cake I’ve got stashed away!”
And then, a loud BOOM shook the room as the lights cut out into utter darkness.
“What the -? The lights went out.” Dr. Roman’s voice came from in front of Ritsuka. “Did something —”
The intercom buzzed from overhead again, this time a robotic voice echoed loudly from it.
EMERGENCY.
EMERGENCY.
FIRE DETECTED IN THE CENTRAL POWER STATION AND THE CENTRAL COMMAND ROOM.
CENTRAL AREA’S CONTAINMENT WALL TO BE DEPLOYED IN 90 SECONDS.
ALL STAFF ARE TO EVACUATE FROM GATE 2 IMMEDIATELY.
CONTAINMENT WALL WILL CLOSE IN 40 SECONDS.
STAFF IN CENTRAL AREA, PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY…
“Was that an explosion just now? What on earth is happening?” Dr. Roman’s voice travelled from in front of the door to over to Ritsuka’s side where he could hear the doctor’s hands feeling their way along the wall. “Computer, administrative override! Authorization Code R-0586! Monitor, show us the Command Room! Is everybody alright?!”
Orange light flooded the room as the monitor flickered on. Ritsuka blinked the stars from his eyes for a moment, before seeing the Command Room bathed in flame, the big planetarium the doctor called Chaldeas in the center of the room surrounded by blackened rubble.
“...Is that the Command Room?” Ritsuka asked. “What about Mash? Is she in there, doctor?!”
The doctor’s face looked ashen grey despite the orange glow. The lights suddenly came back on, the backup generators probably kicking into overdrive now, and Ritsuka could now see the doctor’s genial face warped into steely determination. Dr. Roman gulped and spoke with a clear voice. “Ritsuka, evacuate right now. I think I’ve put off going to the Command Room long enough. The containment wall will close any moment now. Get yourself out of here before it’s too late!” The doctor turned on his heel and bolted out the door, not waiting even a moment to ensure Ritsuka complied.
Ritsuka stood in the middle of the room with only Fou to keep him company as sirens blared all around him. I have to get out of here , Ritsuka thought. If I stay, I’ll die. Another explosion rocked the facility, sending Ritsuka to his knees and spilling Fou onto the floor. I can’t stay here. Ritsuka fought to his feet, his mind screwed up with mortal fear when he jolted at the sudden warm feeling of Fou’s nose nuzzling up against him. The sight of Mash’s pet sent him spiralling. He looked back over at the monitor on his wall still displaying an inferno. Mash is there , Ritsuka reminded himself. Mash may already be dead… she’s probably dead… Ritsuka told himself over and over again like a mantra, but a single creeping thought kept forcing its way to the center of his terrified mind: But what if she isn’t? If Mash wasn’t dead, and he fled, then…
Ritsuka swallowed hard and forced himself to his feet. He didn’t know when he started running, and could barely feel the frantic rhythm of his feet as he raced after Dr. Roman. The only thing Ritsuka could hear was the deep thumping of his own heartbeat.
~~~
Ten minutes earlier…
After the guy who got slapped out of his chair got dragged out of the room unconscious, the rest of the orientation went pretty smoothly - which, is to say, that it was completely boring. A couple more administrator magi stood up and introduced themselves but after the first two they all started to blend together. To forestall boredom, Yuto resumed his small talk with Pepe in hushed tones until the Director finally dismissed them.
As Yuto was funnelled out of the Command Room with the rest of the Master candidates, he asked Pepe, “Hey, what team are you on?” As weird as the guy was, Yuto couldn’t help but find the strange man fun to be around. Maybe this whole thing wouldn’t be too bad -
“‘A’ Team,” Pepe answered, “Same one as Akuta-chan.”
Yuto’s heart fell a bit. “Oh, okay,” he said, trying not to make his disappointment obvious. “So… you guys will be the first ones out, then?”
Pepe nodded. “Here in a few minutes, yes. We were told to be ready as soon as the orientation ended.”
Yuto nodded back. “Okay, well, um… Hey, when you guys are done, do you wanna break in that new cafeteria bar with a round of drinks?”
The older magus blinked in mild surprise before a devious grin split his face. “Oh, honey, you needn’t even ask. How about I bring a few more people along, too? I know a few people on ‘A’ Team you might get along with.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Yuto said, before a certain blonde haired nurse came to mind. “I might be bringing someone too.”
“The more the merrier!” Pepe declared before giving Yuto a wink and walking away.
Yuto barely remembered his short stroll through Chaldea’s halls until he reached the same door he’d left not even an hour or two before and rapped his knuckles on the doorframe.
He listened to the woman’s faint footsteps as she came to slide open the door, revealing the nurse once again.
“Oh, hello again,” Fenna said politely. “Orientation done already?”
“Yep,” Yuto responded, peeking his head in a little to take in the empty infirmary room. “Mind if I come in?”
“No, come on in. I was just starting a pot of coffee. You want one?”
“Absolutely.” Yuto stepped inside and slunk down into the swivelling doctor stool beside the nurse’s desk. Fenna moved behind her deck to insert the empty pot into the coffee machine. “How do you like your coffee, Yuto?”
“Black,” he answered.
“Hmm,” Fenna hummed. “You don’t have much of a sweet tooth?”
“I’m just not too big on sugar in my coffee. If the coffee needs sugar, then there isn't enough caffeine in it.”
Fenna tittered. “Fair enough,” she allowed, pushing the ‘start’ on the machine and watched the machine churn for a moment before sitting down at the desk across from Yuto. “I’m a big sugar and cream girl, myself. The more, the better.”
Yuto rested a hand on the edge of her desk and began lightly drumming his fingers. “Lots of sleepless nights?”
Fenna nodded with a sigh. “I can count on one hand how many full nights of sleep I got getting my Master’s degree. With all that late-night studying and my roommate always out partying, coffee was basically my only companion that last couple of years. After a while, it sort of turned into a hobby.”
“A hobby?” Yuto was intrigued.
“Yeah, I started learning about all the different types of coffee beans - you know, where they come from, what they change about the coffee they’re in…”
“How expensive they are?” Yuto supplied.
“That most of all,” Fenna admitted with a grin. “There are just… so many different beans and flavor profiles and ways to blend all those different ingredients together to create something so tasty. It was amazing!” By now, she’d worked herself up into a light blush. “So, when I finally left college, I brought my coffee knowledge with me and kept at it.” A sharp beep echoed from the machine behind her. “Ah, speaking of which…”
As she turned around to grab the pot, Yuto allowed himself a genuine smile. So sincere… Fenna was such a genuine person that Yuto couldn’t help but be swept up by her story about coffee beans, of all things. She looked so different from Grace, but that soft smile and energetic way of talking was so similar it was almost scary. She’s older than her , Yuto thought absently, not that that was particularly surprising.
Fenna turned back around with a pot of coffee in one hand and two porcelain mugs in the other. Yuto took one of the mugs graciously as she began pouring the steamy beverage into each of their cups. “I, um, I actually made this pot myself. It’s one of my blends so I hope you like it.”
Yuto gave the cup a once-over. “You won’t be offended if I don’t like it, will you?”
“Well, I won’t kick you out but I might cry a little,” Fenna said sarcastically.
“Well, we can’t have that,” Yuto snarked. “Bottoms up.” He took a sip of the coffee, his mouth exploding with a flavor so rich and delicious he couldn’t help but start downing the cup like his life depended on it.
Fenna laughed at him. “It’s good, then?”
Yuto wiped his mouth and gently sat the mug back down. “It’s fantastic! You’re pretty good at this.”
“Thanks!”
Yuto took another sip before placing the cup back down and building up his courage. “Thanks for the coffee, but, um… that’s not why I came to see you.”
“Oh,” Fenna said, her expression instantly shifting into ‘business-mode.’ “Something serious?”
“No, no,” Yuto stammered. “Well, yes, but not what you’re thinking. I, um… I wanted to apologize. For earlier.”
“Oh.”
“You were just trying to do your job and make sure I was okay,” Yuto forged ahead. “And I spat in your face. So, I’m sorry.”
Yuto watched her neutral expression cautiously.
The nurse sighed. “Yuto… Thank you. Really. You don’t have to -”
The intercom buzzed overhead, cutting her off.
“Romani, we’re going ahead with the Rayshift soon, ” a man’s voice crackled from the speaker. “Could you come in case there’s an emergency? The ‘A’ Team’s in perfect condition, but ‘B’ Team’s less experienced and they’re displaying some slight abnormalities. I’m guessing anxiety; the Coffins got their names for a reason.”
Yuto pointed up at the speaker, “Who’s that?”
“Dr. Lev Lainur, one of the administrative heads,” Fenna explained, talking over the rest of the admin’s weird one-way conversation. He’s in charge of Sheba.”
“Gotcha,” Yuto said. Thanks for cutting off our conversation, Lainur . “So is he trying to talk to someone specific or is he just blaring that to the whole facility?”
Fenna grimaced. “Yes and yes. Dr. Romani Archaman - I mentioned him briefly earlier - is also one of the administrators here, head of the medical division. So, he’s basically like my boss. Brilliant physician, great with patients, but he has an unfortunate tendency to get bored easily and slack off.”
“I know the type,” Yuto said. Namely, me.
“Well, he never slacks off in the same den twice in a row, so the higher ups have gotten into the habit of just PA’ing the whole facility to guarantee he hears it, since he can just use any monitor to just answer the call,” Fenna explained.
Makes sense, Yuto noted. Though I can’t imagine someone so irresponsible being allowed to be in charge under Little Miss Dictator.
“Hey, Yuto,” Fenna grabbed his attention. “Thank you - for apologizing. You didn’t have to, but… thanks.”
Yuto nodded. “You’re welc-”
He was cut off by a sudden BOOM that shook the room, the lights immediately cutting out into total darkness.
“Fenna?” Yuto said, stunned.
“Yeah, I’m here,” her shaky voice came from somewhere in front of him. “What was -”
The intercom crackled again with a message that chilled Yuto’s blood.
EMERGENCY.
EMERGENCY.
FIRE DETECTED IN THE CENTRAL POWER STATION AND THE CENTRAL COMMAND ROOM.
CENTRAL AREA’S CONTAINMENT WALL TO BE DEPLOYED IN 90 SECONDS.
ALL STAFF ARE TO EVACUATE FROM GATE 2 IMMEDIATELY. CONTAINMENT WALL…
That kind of shockwave… that had to be some kind of bomb.
“What’s going on?!” Fenna cried out.
“An explosion,” Yuto explained as calmly as he could. “Probably a pair of bombs planted in the Power Station and Command Room, set to go off in tandem.”
“W-why would someone do this ? ”
“‘A’ Team was supposed to launch their first Rayshift in the Command Room,” Yuto thought aloud. “I’m guessing most of the higher ups would want to see them off…”
“Oh my god…” Fenna’s voice whispered. “And they called for Roman because he wasn’t there!”
“They waited until everyone was together before setting them off,” Yuto inferred. “Someone’s trying to take out Chaldea by going for its throat.”
Was Yuto perhaps leaping to conclusions? Maybe. But it made sense. If you wanted to take out an enemy organization, you had a couple of options ranging from long-term attrition to short-term sucker-punches. But the best way, if you could manage it, was to cut off the enemy’s head as swiftly as possible. After that, it was only a matter of cleaning up the stragglers as the organization fell apart. It was exactly the sort of play Yuto would have done in that position. Had done a few times in the past. But Fenna doesn’t need to hear that.
“We need to get to the Command Room,” Yuto decided. He felt around in his pockets for a moment before pulling out a small rough-cut ruby the size of a marble. A quick surge of mana and the gem lit up in his hands like a torch, casting a red glow illuminating the room. He turned to see Fenna van Blair pulling herself up off the ground, her ashen hair disheveled and one of the lenses of her eyeglasses cracked.
“Stick close to me, alright?”
Fenna nodded frantically, her fear plain across her face.
Yuto led her out of the room and into the hall as they raced back to the Command Room.
~~~
When Waver Velvet came to, he was surprised to find his bed so hard and prickly. Grey, his cloudy mind thought deliriously, just five more minutes… Not wanting to get out of his bed in the morning, now that was normal. The magus tried to adjust his sheets as he rolled over but found that he couldn’t for some reason. Waver blinked at the orange light flooding his vision and forced himself to look down at his bed only to see a massive steel beam laying across his chest with his body covered in small bits of broken glass. The night sweat that trickled down his arms and legs was too warm and had never looked so red.
“Shit,” Waver cursed as he struggled beneath the rubble, quickly being brought out of his stupor by the field of fire surrounding him. He looked around slowly, careful to absorb every possible detail around him. The entire room was on fire with the carved glass panelling that cradled Chaldeas beginning to melt and slough off in the heat. The ‘Command’ portion of the Command Room was now strewn all across the room in piles of scrap metal and burnt circuitry. And the bodies… the bodies were everywhere. Staff, candidates, and civilians alike covered every part of the floor unburied by rubble. Hell, some of them were buried by that too.
Olga-Marie… Lev… Da Vinci… Waver scanned the room for any sight of them, any sign of even the semblance of life, of someone else having survived the explosion. When he first tried to speak, he only hacked and coughed from all the smoke in the air. On his second breath he cried out, “ DIRECTOR! LEV! ANYONE! IS ANYONE OUT THERE?! ”
Waver thought he heard something in response and quickly turned in the direction of the noise only to see a pile of rubble collapsing under its own weight. I’ll end up the same way if I don’t get this thing off me! Waver managed to wedge his miraculously unbroken arms beneath the beam and pushed with all his remaining strength until he was red in the face. But it was no use. What little progress he gained was squandered when the beam merely shifted its weight and sunk back down against his chest even harder, forcing the air from his lungs.
The magus soon gave up, laying his head back down flat against the shattered glass beneath him and stared up at the ceiling with dull eyes.
Almost as soon as he had closed his eyes to rest did someone kneel down in front of him yelling at him. “Thank God! If you hadn’t yelled, I might not have found you!”
Flat? Waver thought at first before he began to recognize the boy hovering over him. “It’s you,” he managed weakly.
“What?” the boy yelled back as he surveyed the elder magus’s condition.
“The boy… from the simulation,” Waver feebly explained. “I was watching,” he coughed, “your simulation. You… remind me of someone…”
“What are you talking about? Look, we need to get you up but this beam is in the way!” The boy stood up and tried to lift it on his own but Waver could tell that there was no way he could pull it off on his own. Now that he got a closer look, there was hardly any resemblance to Flat Escardos at all. The boy was Japanese, dark hair and dark eyes, whereas Flat was so bright and blue-eyed. Even their faces were completely different. Why did I think he was Flat?
“Name?” Waver managed to murmur.
“What?!”
“What’s… your name?”
“Ritsuka!” The boy barked as he struggled.
“Ritsuka,” Waver tasted how the syllables felt on his tongue as he said them. “Listen to me carefully. I need you to lift this beam from its end - the side shaped like an English ‘I.’ Luckily, I’m pinned close to that side. I’ll help you push. You need to hold it up for just a moment so I can roll out from under it. Can you do that?”
Ritsuka nodded his head so fiercely he might’ve broken it in the effort. Sweat beaded every surface of his face. “I- I can do that. I can do that.”
Waver forced a smile. “Good. Now stand over here.” When Ritsuka moved over to his side and grabbed hold of the bottom of the beam, Waver said, “Now, on three. One - two - three! ”
They both pushed and pulled as hard as they could and just when Waver thought they might’ve failed, the beam gave way for just a moment and he quickly forced himself to roll away as Ritsuka’s skinny arms shook violently from the weight. The second he finished the roll, the beam slammed down not even an inch away from Waver’s face with Ritsuka falling to his knees beside him.
Waver struggled to his knees before looking over the young man next to him. “Good w-”
“Dr. Roman will be back soon,” Ritsuka said hoarsely, cutting Waver off. “He went to make sure the backup generators stay up and running or something… to keep Chaldeas from going dark!” The boy gave Waver a weak look. “Figured you should know.”
Waver nodded and allowed himself a small smile despite the situation. “Good work, Ritsuka.” He looked around for a moment before standing up and dusting off some of the glass shards that were sticking out of his now tattered suit. “Now, I’ve got another job for us. Let’s look for more survivors.” Waver couldn’t be the only one who survived the blast.
The system PA crackled overhead.
SYSTEM SWITCHING TO FINAL PHASE OF RAYSHIFT.
COORDINATES SET. JANUARY 30, 2004 AD, FUYUKI, JAPAN.
LAPLACE’S SHIFTING PROTECTION ESTABLISHED.
SINGULARITY’S ADDITIONAL FACTOR SLOT SECURED.
UNSUMMON PROGRAM SET.
PLEASE START FINAL ADJUSTMENTS.
Waver’s mind was racing. “You said Roman was turning on the auxiliary power?” he yelled towards Ritsuka.
“Yeah, why?”
“Ritsuka,” Waver said as calmly as he could, “Look for a monitor that isn’t blown up. We need to get a hold of Roman right now!”
“What? Why?!”
Waver pushed past a pile of rubble and began looking for some semblance of where the Command Platform was once standing. “‘Fate’ should have been shut down due to lack of power, but the emergency backup generators switched on, putting it on standby,” the older magus explained. Sweat trickled down his temples, no longer just from the heat. “What we just heard over the intercom was the system reminding its technicians that it’s still ready to go once it regains enough power - which it will, once Roman flips the switch on the auxiliary power!”
He could hear Ritsuka clambering around in the background. “And then what?!”
Waver Velvet turned to look at the flame-licked Chaldeas suspended within its planetarium and did his best to hide his unease. “We need to get a hold of Roman right now or he’ll be sending us on a one-way trip to 2004.”
~~~
The hallway shuddered from the force of yet another explosion, sending Yuto and Fenna stumbling to the floor. Emergency lights flickered with an orange glow overhead but that still wasn’t enough light for Yuto to put away his gem. A sharp grunt escaped him as his knee slid across shattered glass on the floor.
Yuto immediately put his pain aside and turned back to Fenna. “You alright?”
The woman, scared out of her wits, nodded. Despite the constant stumbling and shaking, somehow her broken eyeglasses had managed to stay on her head, though her lab coat was now blackened around the fringes with scorch marks and her pants had been cut in several places from falling on debris. “Yes, let’s keep going.”
Yuto nodded. He had to admit, Fenna was tough as nails. He’d have to tell her that once this way all over. “Alright.”
He led her down the hall until they arrived at a three-way intersection - though the path to their left was filled with rubble. Yuto grimaced. “Please tell me the Command Room isn’t down that way,” he asked, pointing at the blocked tunnel.
Fenna exhaled heavily and wiped sweat from her brow. “No, thank god… It’s that way, just another hall down,” she explained, pointing at the other tunnel.
“Awesome, let’s go.” They walked another few steps until Fenna’s leg buckled and she screamed out.
Yuto immediately dropped to her side as she tried to hold her ankle. Broken , Yuto thought sullenly. Perfect timing…
“I’m sorry!” Fenna began to sob. “ I- I- I stepped on something the wrong way and - It’s broken, isn’t it?”
Yuto took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “If it hurts enough to ask, then it’s probably broken,” he said, forcing a smile.
Fenna returned it warily, her pearly teeth flashing in the orange light. “I can still walk -”
Yuto put out his other hand and kept her from trying to stand up. “The hell you can!” Yuto looked at her for a moment before nodding. “I’ll have to carry you.”
Yuto scooped her up into his arms before she could protest and slung her over his shoulder. He grunted from the weight and began trudging forward through the rubble. Yuto’s legs shook from bearing Fenna’s weight as well as his own.
“We’ll get there soon,” Yuto rasped, the smoke in the air roughening his throat. “Just tell me where to go and we’ll be alright.”
~~~
Ritsuka pushed the ‘call’ button on the monitor once more, as if he expected a different result this time around. He waited another five seconds before sighing in disappointment.
“Any luck?” The older magus called from across the room, his voice just barely carrying over the sound of roaring flames and short-circuiting machines.
Ritsuka punched the ‘call’ button one more time for good measure before answering him. “No, sir! I still can’t get a hold of Dr. Roman!” Ritsuka paused for a moment. “You don’t think something happened to him, do you?”
“I can’t say for sure,” the magus answered tentatively. “Don’t worry about that right now. Just keep trying the -”
The older magus stopped talking as a sharp series of coughs rang out from somewhere in the room.
Ritsuka immediately bolted away from the monitor towards the pitiful sounds, coming to a skidding halt in front of a pile of warped glass and twisted rebar. Ritsuka barely registered the slender bloody hand stretching out through the rubble toward him as he worked at freeing the trapped girl.
“Sen…pai…” Mash’s voice echoed through the rubble faintly.
“MASH!” Ritsuka’s voice was hoarse from the smoke, but his panic was clear in his tone. “Hang in there! We’ll get you out!” He looked up to call for the other man’s help, but he’d already crossed the room to kneel by Ritsuka’s side and had begun digging Mash out. Thank you, Ritsuka thought with appreciation.
“Stay still for now, Mash. Save your strength,” the long-haired magus advised, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the flames. “Don’t move until you start to feel the pressure shift, alright?”
“Yes, sir…”
They worked together, their chests heaving and their arms throbbing from the exertion of sifting through the debris. It wasn’t long before Ritsuka’s fingers began to bleed from handling such hazardous materials and even the older man’s suit jacket had been thoroughly shredded up to the mid-wrist. Ritsuka envied the man his leather gloves for their protection, meager as they were in this situation. Their struggles ceased for a moment as they heaved another jagged piece of rebar out of the way as Mash’s body came into view.
The older magus averted his gaze with a grimace at the sight, while Ritsuka had to suppress the urge to vomit through sheer force of will. That’s a lot of blood… He thought blankly. The girl’s jacket was more beat up and torn than the older magus’ and was now more red than grey. Mash’s lilac hair was coated in dirt and grime where it wasn’t caked with blood, and Ritsuka could see even more of it trickling down across her face in crimson rivulets.
“Lord… El-Melloi…” the girl tried to speak, but her voice was too weak to continue for too long without succumbing to a coughing fit.
Ritsuka looked at the man she called El-Melloi and stammered in a wavering voice, “She’s… what’s wrong with her?”
“What isn’t? A girl her size being knocked around by an explosion before being buried under rubble… she’s lucky to be alive,” El-Melloi said softly, his analytical gaze never leaving Mash’s broken form. “Though it may have been better if she didn’t.”
“Sir?” Ritsuka didn’t like the way that sounded.
“She’s lost a lot of blood and she’d be moving her limbs by now if they weren’t clearly broken. I get the feeling that she may die if we try to move her to safety.”
“She’ll die if we don’t!”
“Sen…pai…”
Mash’s soft voice cuts through Ritsuka’s incredulous rage, forcing him to his knees to better hear her. “Mash, we’ll get you out of here -”
“Leave… please. Don’t die… for me…”
Ritsuka couldn’t believe this. After all that, she wanted him to… what? Leave her behind? How was that fair?! “Mash, I -”
He was cut off once again by the feeling of El-Melloi’s hand on his shoulder, a grim expression on his face which quickly turned to obvious panic. Ritsuka turned to see what he was looking at and saw that the big planetarium thing - I think Dr. Roman called it Chaldeas? - had turned a bright, fiery orange like a miniature sun. Ritsuka’s immediate fear was validated by the overhead PA.
WARNING ALL OBSERVATION STAFF.
CHALDEAS’ STATE HAS CHANGED.
NOW REWRITING SHEBA’S NEAR-FUTURE PREDICTION DATA.
UNABLE TO DETECT THE EXISTENCE OF MANKIND 100 YEARS IN THE NEAR-FUTURE OF EARTH.
“What?!” Ritsuka cried out.
“Shit!” El-Melloi cursed, swiftly moving away from Ritsuka and Mash as fast as he could in the direction of the monitor Ritsuka had been messing with earlier.
UNABLE TO CONFIRM HUMAN SURVIVORS.
UNABLE TO GUARANTEE MANKIND’S FUTURE.
I can’t worry about that right now, Ritsuka decided as he knelt back down by Mash’s side. Right now, what I can do is…
“Mash, I’m getting you out of here whether you like it or not! I’m sorry if this hurts but I need you to bear with it, okay?” Without waiting to hear her predictable protests, Ritsuka forced his arms under her and lifted her up into his arms. He had intended to carry her out of the room but he’d badly underestimated his own lack of strength, quickly dropping to one knee and Mash nearly spilling out onto the floor. Ritsuka huffed and puffed, cursing himself for his own weakness at such a critical moment, and settled for propping Mash up against a piece of what looked like a plexiglass screen as he tried to regain his strength.
The warm glow of Chaldeas cast a red haze over Mash’s face as she looked upon it with half-lidded eyes. “Chaldeas… has turned bright red… No, never mind that. Fujimaru-kun…”
CENTRAL AREA, SEALED.
180 SECONDS UNTIL INTERNAL CONTAINMENT PROCEDURE.
What little strength Mash had left seemed to seep out of her at that. “They shut off… the area. Now, we can’t get out…”
The strangest sound echoed in the room as two people Ritsuka had never seen before tumbled onto the floor. One was a young blonde woman - though clearly older than Ritsuka - who dressed similarly to Dr. Roman, lab coat and all, who lay on the ground clutching her leg with a pained but somehow relieved expression. The other was another Japanese man in a black shirt and jeans who was laughing like a madman and cursing like Mr. El-Melloi.
“HAHAHA, FUCK!” the man laughed as he fell to the floor in exhaustion.
“We made it…” the woman sighed with relief.
After everything that had just happened, Ritsuka was too shell-shocked to have a proper response to that, which meant he didn’t miss the next crackling message from the PA.
COFFIN VITALS: MASTERS BASELINE NOT REACHED.
RAYSHIFT REQUIREMENT NOT MET.
SEARCHING FOR QUALIFYING MASTER… MULTIPLE FOUND.
El-Melloi banged his fist on the unresponsive monitor in rage before looking up at Chaldeas in confusion at the announcements. Even the two new arrivals ceased their celebration to listen with rapt attention.
CANDIDATE NO. 36, YUTO TOHSAKA
CANDIDATE NO. 48, RITSUKA FUJIMARU
ADMINISTRATOR NO. 323, LORD EL-MELLOI II
ALL RESET AS MASTERS.
Ritsuka looked back to Mash just in time to see her start to slip from her propped position onto the floor, and moved to catch her.
UNSUMMON PROGRAM, START.
SPIRITRON CONVERSION, START.
“Senpai…” Mash whispered into Ritsuka’s ear as they fell against each other on the floor. Ritsuka was so focused on Mash’s wellbeing that he barely registered that they were both dissolving into golden stardust.
No, perhaps that’s putting it too generously. If anything, it was what Mash said next that forced everything else from Ritsuka’s mind.
“Would you mind… holding my hand?”
RAYSHIFT STARTING IN 3, 2, 1…
ALL PROCEDURES CLEAR.
FIRST ORDER, COMMENCING OPERATION.
Later, Ritsuka wouldn’t be able to recall actually taking Mash’s hand in that moment, only remembering the warmth of their shared touch as everything else around them faded away into a bright, golden light.