Originally posted on SpaceBattles.

Foreword:

Since this is my first time publishing any of my writing in this way, and English is not my first language, I would appreciate any advice, whether it be related to formatting, story structure, flow, grammar mistakes, things that are exclusive to fanfiction, or really anything else you can think of.

Criticism is therefore very much welcome, especially if it is constructive, as long as you refrain from outright insults or name calling.

Since this is an AU, there will be certain things that work differently from the way they do in the Fate Grand Order canon. For example most of the machines in Chaldea require either manual operation, or at the very least need to be monitored by the staff, however in this Chaldea the vast majority of the systems work automatically, requiring only minimal outside intervention aside from the initial input.

If you think you see something that should absolutely not work, or introduces a plot hole when taking the grander workings of the Fate verse into consideration, remember that there is a good chance that it is an intentional change, and will either be explained later, is actually a plot point or simply stems from one of the changes to the verse in a way that might not be immediately obvious. If you still think it is a mistake, PM it to me, or put it in a spoiler, just in case.

Time spent in Chaldea is going to be be written mostly using journal entries. Time spent in singularities will be written in a more usual fashion.

At the start I am going to take some time to do a bit of Chaldea facility worldbuilding, as in the canon we are not given that much information about it, which is fine since we spend all of our time in the singularities, however a large part of this story is going to take place there, so I felt it necessary.

I also want people that are completely unfamiliar with Fate to be able to enjoy this, so expect to find information that any Fate fan would already be familiar with.

Well then, let's get into it.

Intro:

I wake up to the feeling of cold hard floor on my face.
As I get up and look around, I realise that I am in a room I don't recognise. It is very reminiscent of a hospital room. Clean white bed, floor and walls, along with a high-tech feel that you wouldn't find in a typical flat, or hotel room.
However, there are no medical supplies or equipment, and instead of one of the walls, there is a large window, behind which, as far as eyes can see are only snowy mountains. A strange place for a hospital, if this indeed is one.

I go to check my trouser pocket for my phone, only to be blocked by the long lab coat I was wearing. Not a hospital gown, but rather something a doctor, or a researcher would wear. Certainly weird, as it isn't something I ever wear. Further inspection of myself reveals a name tag with a strange symbol, my name, stating me to be an 'Assistant Head Technician' of a 'Chaldea Security Organization', an organization I have never heard of. Now things are officially getting strange.

Searching around a bit more, I found many of my belongings, such as my phone, laptop, clothes, and my tea selection all in the places where I would put them, were this my room.

Is this some kind of a prank? Did someone kidnap me, along with all of my belongings, and put me in their futuristic mountain retreat? Had I gone mad, or suffered from a head injury, rendering me unable to make new long term memories, doomed to relive this moment of confusion forever, as I am locked inside of a mental asylum in the mountains, constantly forgetting what happened 5 minutes ago? Given a fake name tag and lab coat to keep me occupied long enough for my short term memory to get wiped, so that I don't wander out of my room?

Now that is a scary thought, I am really hoping that isn't the case. Anyway, I don't see any point in staying inside of this room, I should probably find someone to ask about what is happening here.

Exiting the room, I found myself inside of a long, futuristic looking hallway. On the wall opposite the room I just left there is a symbol identical to the one I have on my name tag. The hallway is completely silent, and there is no one in sight. I look at the door to the room I was just in. Printed on it is my name. I pick a direction and walk in it, trying to find some answers.

Day 1:

After not finding anyone during my search of this facility I found myself in, I have decided to start keeping this journal. The reason for that is two-fold, first is so that I don't forget anything important, and the second is to make sure that I am not going crazy. One has to doubt their mind after finding themselves in an abandoned facility in the middle of nowhere after all.

Anyway, after collecting my bearings, and leaving the room I woke up in, I have searched a large part of the facility, using a floor plan I found to prioritise places I thought I would be most likely to find other people in. This was made easier by the pleasant revelation that my name tag seems to grant me the access to all the doors I have attempted to enter so far.

After not having any success with that for multiple hours, I instead attempted to do a brief search of the places I though I would need the most in order to sustain myself, and find out information about this place.

There is a canteen, as well as a large kitchen and storage with a wide variety of foods, preserved in a strange manner I don't quite understand, however they all seemed edible from what I have tried.

I have also found a medical bay(or whatever it is called when it is a part of a research facility), likewise stocked with medical supplies, equipment, and books. Though I have no idea how to properly use 99% of those, so my best chance at survival is extreme caution.
Which would also, in hindsight, include not eating the food I found in the storage, though it is a bit late for that now.

Many server, and console rooms are scattered around the building. They seem operate the facility, provide it with an IT infrastructure that many research institutes would no doubt be very jealous of.

The last thing of importance I discovered was a library that seems to be split into multiple parts, depending on the purpose the books serve.

There is a General section, that seems to contain books detailing general knowledge you could find anywhere, literature from antiquity to the present day, as well as any books that didn't fit in the other sections.

Technical section has topics ranging anywhere from "basic user knowledge" through "system administrator" all the way to "newest IT research".
This section is the one that I understand the most topics from, as it falls under my field of work.

Research section is probably the least cohesive one, as it seems to be made up of books from all kinds of research fields that are practised here from mathematics to biology and more.

The last section however is the one that gave me pause.

Magecraft. This section might be the largest one here, and indeed seems to contain books that talk about all manners of occult and supernatural. My first reaction was to assume that someone had a bit of fun and renamed their Fiction section, however the General section also seems to contain a fair number of fictional works.
I have also skimmed a number of the books, and they were all academic in tone, as if they were truly written with the assumption that the reader will study and research them, lacking any narrative that would be expected in fiction.
I was very tempted to look into this section more, but I decided to research the rest of the facility instead for now. The books are going to stay here after all.

Other than that I discovered many rooms and parts of this building that I can only assume focus on all kinds of strange research. I only gave them a cursory glance, both since I likely wouldn't quite understand what they were for anyway, and also because I didn't want to risk accidentally releasing an artificial plague, or something like that.

This was all I managed to do before I was too tired to continue, and decided to return to the room I embarked from at the beginning of the day. Wrote a bunch of quick pointers into a notebook I found at the library, and went to sleep.

Day 2:

I woke up and banged my knee on the bedside table while searching for my glasses, before remembering that I was in fact no longer at my home. Afterwards I continued on with my plan from the day before, namely:

1. Acquire knowledge of my situation and how to get out of it.

2. Implement knowledge.

3. ?

4. Profit.

Not exactly a detailed plan, but when you have no information on your situation you have to make due.

I decided to first familiarize myself with the local computer systems, so that I could be sure there isn't a nuclear reactor about to overheat and explode, or that the electricity does not simply go out, leaving me to die slowly as the outside cold claws its way in.

Of course that was easier said than done. Luckily after a few hours of fruitless attempts to gain access to any of the local computers, I remembered that I had seen my laptop in my room. And to my unbridled joy (and quite a bit of worry, how did they get there?) it did indeed contain multiple saved passwords, allowing me access to essentially the entire infrastructure.

I spent the rest of the day focusing myself on that.

Important discoveries:

Digital version of the library I had found earlier – though I am unsure if it contains all of the books the physical one does.

There is a system called SHEBA, it monitors every inch of the facility and its immediate surroundings in fascinating detail, without seemingly any way to be able to do so. It also has other modes of operation, however I don't understand how those work quite yet.

Most of the facility is fully automatic, but can also be operated remotely, allowing me to do anything from opening/closing doors, through temperature regulation to a full scale facility lock down.

There is a large number of other systems that I have been unable to ascertain the function of, however their complexity confounds and intrigues me greatly.

There are multiple ways to contact the outside, however despite all of them seemingly working perfectly I haven't gotten a single response from anyone. Very strange and unnerving.

The greatest source of knowledge might actually be the files contained in "my" folders, and designated with my name, as they seem to be focused mainly on the basis and function of the local technology.
Not to mention it uncannily resembles the way I like to conduct research and take notes. Which does pose an uncomfortable question: Were they truly made by me, and had I just lost my memory? Or if not, who made them? I certainly do not seem any older than I remember being.

Though youthful appearance does run in the family. People still often assume my father is simply my older brother by the virtue of us looking remarkably similar in age. The more telling is the date on all of the local electronics, which seems to be the same as the one I remember.

Over all, I think that I might have found myself in a top secret facility with technology anyone else could only dream of. This certainly makes me incredibly interested, my own research (at least the one I remember conducting) seems insignificant compared to the things that they have been able to do here.

Day 3:

My attraction to the 'Magecraft' section of the library seems to have outweighed even my fascination with the local technology, as such I have decided to devote today to figuring out what the deal with it is.

Conclusions:

The books seem to detail a multitude of strange supernatural systems of achieving feats that are technically possible(such as making fire or flying) without actually meeting the requirements for such things to happen. Hypnotizing oneself instead and drawing on some kind of energy while making a ritualistic sacrifice or something to that effect.

At least that is all I managed to understand from it, as the whole picture seems incredibly complicated. I am again very tempted to simply dismiss it outright, however it simply does not seem to be written like fiction. It reads more like material pertaining to a scientific field of study that I simply lack even the most basic knowledge of, resulting in me being incapable of understanding it.

A much larger amount of time would be required of me to really get into the concepts detailed in this section. Time which I am unconvinced I should be spending on something that might very well not be real at all.

Day 4:

This day was spent trying to identify the rest of the facility using the knowledge I have obtained.
I now have, at the very least, a fair guess as to every rooms purpose. A good number seems to be dedicated to activities related to what is mentioned in the 'Magecraft' section of the library, further lending credence to the possibility that there might be something to it, though even now I remain skeptical.

The most important room of this facility seems to be the console room, containing most of the computers that control the facility, as well as a replica of Earth called CHALDEAS surrounded by two larger globes of glass with metal frames. For some reason that I do not understand the replica is red in color. I am not quite clear as to its purpose, except for being a fairly exact model as far as I can tell.

I have also found a set of binoculars, which I have been using to look out the large window (or rather a glass wall) in my room. There is something calming about looking at the distant mountain tops when the sky is clear, or into the raging blizzard when the weather turns harsh.

Days 5-8:

More all-around research focused on solidifying and deepening my understanding of this facility.
I am beginning to understand the operation of the majority of the local electronics, even if I don't understand exactly how some of them work.

My attempts to contact anyone remain unsuccessful still.

I have found a variety of documents and reports on a myriad of experiments, missions, and similar. Most of them once again include at least some reference to the so called 'Magecraft' and terms relating to it. I think that I have no choice but to accept that there might be something to it.

Who knows, perhaps there isn't anything magical about it, rather it might simply be utilizing a scientific concept previously unknown to humanity.

The silence and solitude might finally be starting to get to me a little. I have begun feeling a bit uncomfortable walking through the large empty halls and rooms obviously made by humans, yet without even a soul in sight. Hopefully someone answers my transmissions to the outside soon, as it seems like otherwise I am going to be stuck here for a good while. And as interesting as everything here is, I would much rather be home.

Days 8-15:

I have been devoting more and more of my time to attempts to understand the 'Magecraft' that seems to have been a significant part of the research and function of this facility.

This is due to the fact that I have run into roadblocks in my other endeavors which result from me being unfamiliar with the concepts of said 'Magecraft'.

However I have been absolutely unable to make any progress, which has been making me very irate and annoyed. I didn't want to make any journal entries until I have made at least SOME progress, hence this being my first entry in a week.

My mental state is still very much manageable, even if my sleep cycle has suffered, and I have begun to sing to myself to break the silence, something I have never done before in my life. It might also be the cause of my shortened temper, along with my failure in learning 'Magecraft'.

Days 15-22:

Still no progress with the 'Magecraft', though I was able to make some advances in other areas, despite not devoting as much time to them as I did to trying to learn magic.

Day 23:

Today, while researching in my room as usual, trying to finally break the enigma that is 'Magecraft' I have once again become too irritated to continue, and had to take a quick break of looking out of the window using my binoculars. I took note of the time so I would know how long I have been working, the bedside clock was showing 13:47

The weather was fairly calm, with only mild snowfall, resulting in a good visibility distance. Whilst relaxing and thinking about how to progress with my research, something unusual caught my eye. A black dot slowly moving across one of the mountains further back. I switched to more powerful binoculars, and focused on it.

Now I wish I hadn't done that.

The dot revealed itself to be a figure shaped vaguely like a man, almost completely black, except for two blindingly white rectangular slits on its head. It was shambling itself along the side of the mountain, strips of it flailing behind it as if it was slowly unraveling into ribbons of darkness.

In spite of my loneliness, I didn't dare to hope that it was human, the way it moved seemed to ignore the laws of normal human locomotion, only the limbs moving, as the body trailed behind flailing in wind no one else could feel. Dragging something that was leaving a dark trail in the snow, dragging it with one of its upper limbs. I could not discern what it was that the thing was pulling, as it was covered entirely in blood and gore.

I was quickly taken out of my thoughts when it stopped, and looked right in my direction. Its eye slits seemed to reflect the inside of my room, despite the fact that it was kilometers away from me. It opened a mouth I didn't know it had, it had opened it entirely too wide and started laughing.

If the sound that seemed to ignore distance could be called laughter at all.

It sounded more like someone had twisted the cries of the damned into a mocking imitation of human laughter. Even now I can still almost hear it. The inside of its mouth seemed to be filled with hundreds of tiny needles, not in a row like human teeth, but instead protruding randomly from every surface in swarms.

It extended its free limb towards me, and despite the enormous space stretching between us, I could hear a loud crack and feel something cold coil itself around my chest.

I remember wanting to run, I wanting to scream, but I found that I could do nothing more than desperately clutch the binoculars in my hands as I could feel it constricting more and more of my body, its laughter slicing its way into my ears with increasing intensity. Then I could feel a sharp, pain as it seemed to pierce its way into my chest.

I must have passed out then, since the next thing I remember is waking up on the cold hard floor of my room. My heart racing I began to check myself for any injuries the thing had caused, but I could not find anything, not even my lab coat, name tag or shirt were in any way damaged. Had I just dreamed about it?

I looked out of the window, only to be met with a raging blizzard of a storm, not able to see more than 300 meters in front of me.

I was just about to breathe out in relief when I felt a bit of a draft and noticed the large almost circular hole with cracks around it that adorned a part of the window just a bit lower than my line of sight allowed me to see before. I doubt I had ever run out of a room as fast as I had then. I did however manage to catch a glance at the clock as I was running away.

The time was 13:55.

I spent the rest of the day in the console room, triggering the window shutters to close and using SHEBA to monitor the inside of the facility, and its surroundings. After I was too tired to continue I found a bedroom with no windows, and went to sleep.

Day 24:

Luckily I didn't have my laptop in my room, the only things that were there with me at the time consisted of some of the tools for 'Magecraft' I was using at the time.

I still refuse to go back there and retrieve them after what happened yesterday, it has me very freaked out and jumping at the shadows.

The wide open hallways and rooms might have been a bit uncomfortable to traverse before, but now they seem outright daunting to enter, I keep expecting the thing from before to be behind any corner.

Day 25:

Today I woke up to someone calling my name, but when I was fully awake I could no longer hear anyone anymore.

Day 26:

During today and the previous day I have gathered all of the things I might need to survive and continue my research for at least another 3 weeks into a room titled "The Summoning room". It has no windows, is one of the most well defensible rooms in the whole facility, whether the threat comes from outside, or inside of the room. I locked the door, and should be able to remain here for at least the upcoming 3 weeks without having to leave. I have set up SHEBA so that it will alert me of any movement inside of Chaldea, or its immediate surroundings, and am periodically checking myself to make sure there is nothing amiss.

Day 27-29:

My mental state has taken a sharp turn for the worse. I have been hearing banging on the door, but there is no one behind it, and I can see things out of the corner of my eyes that aren't really there. I have been attempting to contact the outside world far more frequently, without any success. This needs to end soon.

Day 30:

Today I turned myself back to 'Magecraft' out of desperation. I have again made a bunch of futile attempts to achieve anything at all with it, before discovering a book I didn't realise I brought here, it detailed the summoning of 'Servants', which reminded me of something I had read about when researching the local systems. The FATE project(which this room belongs to) was supposed to serve that exact purpose. After a bit of research I had decided to focus my attempts on this from now on, as it seems to be exactly what I need. A way to summon a powerful warrior from the past to help and protect you. I don't care how crazy it sounds, this is exactly what I need: someone to talk to and to save me from the thing that lurks in these mountains.

Day 31:

After countless fruitless attempts (during which the system at least seemed to turn on, though that wasn't really because of any success at magecraft on my part, rather the fact that it is partly electronic in nature), I have determined that without a catalyst I was very unlikely to succeed. However there weren't really any things that could even theoretically serve as such, so I had decided to wing it, and used my name tag in place of a catalyst.

As the FATE summoning system whirred into action once more, I awaited with high hopes but low expectations. After I once again completed the ritual required of me, and nothing happened. I was about to turn the machine off, before a blinding flash of light suddenly erupted from the summoning circle followed by a loud hiss.

When my vision returned I found myself face to face with a tall figure. Black mist emanated from its body, shrouding everything but the helmet, and the hellish red light that shone from it. Although I could see the silhouette of black armor beneath the dark fog.

Then it craned its head backwards and screamed in mad rage.

I could not help but think to myself: "What the hell did I just summon?"