Author's notes: Greeting for all readers, this is Blue342, also known as Shape of Fire in certain forums. But this isn't about my bad choice of usernames around the internet, this is about this fic here or more like my (I like to think triumphant) return to writing fanfiction, not just reading it.

This actually happened two months ago.

Anyway I had planned on putting this story here too for a while now, I just didn't find the incentive. Until this morning! I went and read Shirou Fujimura's brilliant "FateReign Rebirth" and laughed my ass off at the similarities in the beginning. No, I'm not accusing anyone of plagiarism, especially since I firmly believe his/hers is written better than mine. Not to mention how I share his/her belief that this is a generally good way to begin any Extra crossover. But, since he/she said in his/her Author's notes that he/she would like to see more Extra crossover fics (among others), I decided to upload this now.

I would be lying through my teeth if I said me writing this had nothing to do with me reading Wrathie Winsre's "A Flower Amongst Devils" and The Crimson Lord's "A Demon Among Devils". I can only hope I can reach their level someday.

But now, let's get to the fic!

End notes.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Ones and Zeroes

Prologue

The Holy Grail, core of the Moon Cell Automaton

3rd Person view

Hakuno Kishinami felt herself start to disintegrate. Actually it was more that she could no longer feel the pressure of the virtual sea she was submerged in, as her body – the irregular data file containing everything about the person "Hakuno Kishinami" – was being erased. As her left leg deadened, Hakuno closed her eyes and waited for the end. She could feel her Servant's presence around her, and she could imagine the beautiful woman comfortingly embracing her, once again –probably for the last time– lending Hakuno her strength. Hakuno was really glad about that. She really was the best Servant, even defeating the "Savior" that had answered Twice Pieceman's summons. But more important than that, she was one of the only two living beings she considered friends. Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, once the emperor of Rome, now her Servant Saber. Ardent lover of all things beautiful and under all her pride and arrogance, there was insecure girl who had to take her own life since she couldn't understand the people of her country. It had taken time and several life threatening battles, but eventually she had gathered her courage and disclosed her identity to Hakuno and then gone even further by declaring her love to the amnesiac Master. Poor Hakuno had been utterly confused about how to take that and still was, in fact. She had looked so scared, so pained when she had said that, but had Hakuno accepted her feelings just because of that it would have been a great insult, even Hakuno with her meagre weeks of existence understood that. So she had let it be, until her feelings were clear, but the War didn't give her time and now she was dying and she still couldn't answer. She clearly had feelings for her Servant, after everything she had done for her, how couldn't she? But she still couldn't say if those feelings were love, or friendship or what. She just didn't know.

Luckily, she wasn't the only person with emotional problems. The homunculus Rani VIII, had had the same problems though hers originated from her artificial nature, had become a very good friend for Hakuno during these eight weeks. At first it had been Hakuno trying to get Rani to understand that she was a person, not a doll for her creator to command, and when Hakuno's existence as cyber-ghost was revealed, it was Rani who got her to accept her artificial existence. Hakuno would really miss her and their long discussions, but hopefully Rani would get some closure from the real Hakuno, once she is cured of her disease.

I hope she doesn't take my death too badly,Hakuno's thoughts darkened as the feel in her right leg started to disappear, no doubt if she were to open her eyes and look at her legs, they would be covered by the same veiny, purple lined darkness that had eaten every other people she knew, all of them dying so she could live.

Shinji and Rider, Dan and Archer, Alice and Caster, Gatou, Julius and Assassin, Rin and Lancer, Leo and Saber. Then finally Twice.

Of course there were other people too. There was that cute couple by the Arena doors, who were forced to fight each other, only for the man to surrender so his love could continue fighting. But she couldn't live with that outcome. Hakuno still wasn't sure if the girl had taken her own life or if she just ran into a stronger Master. Then there was that friendly classmate, who had understood that they might have to fight to the death one day, but still stayed friendly. They had promised give it their all, if they were to be paired in the future. And that one girl in the first floor, who had first laughed at Hakuno's helplessness, but then had slowly grown to respect her ability, going so far as to declare her the most dangerous Master in the Holy Grail War.

Just as Leo had done, but he had admitted that only when they stood face to face in the elevator to the Coliseum.

But ultimately, it was down to those fourteen people who had the biggest impact on Hakuno. Those fourteen people died in front of her. By her hand, guiding the weapon called Servant Saber. Shinji had gone screaming, not realizing he was fighting for his life until he lost it, while Rider had accepted her fate. Dan went to death happily, after offering some heartfelt advice as the older, more experienced person. Archer took his loss good-naturedly, as he was content with his life. Alice and Caster were heartbreaking in their deaths, the Master finally letting go of the life she never really got to live and the Servant lamenting what she lost with her Master. Gatou had pleaded his mad goddess to help her and after his disappearance, she had just walked away utterly disregarding the deletion that was supposed to be absolute. Julius was tenacious to the end, but Hakuno was sure he found peace at the end. Assassin didn't deserve his fate, but she was sure he would have accepted it regardless.

Then there was Rin. The smart and capable freedom fighter, who had taken pity on the amnesiac Master and explained to her just what it was she was involved in. And that was just their first meeting! She had helped her so much, from taunting info out of Shinji to getting her malachite for the Vorpal sword. She was also the first person to figure out her –Hakuno's – true nature as a cyber-ghost in the virtual reality of .PH. But the Holy Grail War was cruel game, and they had to face each other in the semifinals. Not that Hakuno had realized it at first, since Rin had done everything in her power to keep their status secret and just like a friend would. Chatting about things important and not, eating lunch with each other, that kind of things. And when Hakuno had finally realized it, she couldn't help but do the same. She'd rather remember her friend than turn things awkward as they no doubt would have become, if Rin knew Hakuno had found out the truth. And even when they stood face to face in the elevator, Hakuno had opted to chat with Rin about mundane things, like how she adored children or would have liked to go to school like a normal girl her age. And have friends who looked at her as equals, unlike her comrades who, while friendly enough, had put her on a pedestal for her skills. Hakuno had fought hard to hold her tears back during their last talk, after Saber's sword had cut Lancer down, the Irishman taking his defeat in a stride. Rin had been proud to the end, standing with her head held high and congratulating Hakuno for becoming so strong, before asking for one last favor before her avatar was erased.

Hakuno had held her last promise to her dear friend and stopped –killed– Leonard Harway only a week later. The young Harway heir had been a very confusing person to face. Hakuno had found herself thinking of the boy as a friend, but it had turned out to be one-sided, as Leo thought such things were beneath a king like himself. But he had still been very courteous and friendly to her for the whole War, and had eventually declared Hakuno as his ultimate opponent. As Leo was groomed to his role from a young age, he had always been the best at everything, standing head and shoulders above his peers in anything and he had the drive, the confidence to grasp whatever he wanted with nary a thought spared to the possibility of loss. While Hakuno herself was amnesiac and unsure of her own worth –after all he was only fighting for her own survival while other were putting their lives on the line for their dreams, how could she even compare? –, constantly needing the help of other people in the face of enemies that got more and more out of her league every week. But she had grown with every battle, remembering Dan's advice about finding meaning in killing her enemies and honoring them with her victories.

Leo had, of course, put it the best:

"Doesn't it seem like fate that you and I were paired for the final battle? The unchanging me, versus the steadily improving you. Like the Moon is trying to resolve the timeless clash of innate talent versus self-improvement." Hakuno clearly remembered how Leo's expression was slowly filled with battle lust, the need to fight her. An honest to god opponent near his own level, someone who could push him to the limits but not defeat him, never defeat him.

But he was wrong, as Hakuno turned out to be the stronger Master of the two. Leo had still lost gracefully, thanking his Servant for everything, before thanking Hakuno for teaching him the only thing he lacked –defeat. And that was when Hakuno had to agree with all her heart that Leonard Bistario Harway would have made a terrifying king one day, and that she would have kneeled before him if not for the fact that she loathed his ambition of having all the world stagnate under Harway family's control.

Finally, there was Twice. Hakuno didn't know him, thanks to her amnesia, but apparently he was famous. Leo, Rin and Rani all knew him by name. Hakuno got the impression that he was a very smart man, but his final moments had somehow unhinged him. If Leo wanted to bring forth world peace by uniting it under the Harway family and then force everything to stay the same forever, then Twice wanted the exact opposite. He wanted to force mankind to evolve, to constantly force it to become better in the iron grip of an eternal war that would eventually destroy humanity as a whole. Better to die than stagnate was how he thought and he wanted to enforce this on the rest of humanity with the power of the Holy Grail. Hakuno had naturally disagreed and so the final battle for the Holy Grail had started. In the end, Hakuno and Saber were victorious and Twice, along with his extraordinary servant, were deleted though it wasn't clear if it was Moon Cell's doing or if Twice delete himself because of his philosophy of survival of the fittest.

That was Hakuno's barely eight weeks of life. Eight Servants and Masters killed. Three friends made.

And now, as she sunk to the virtual sea, it all would end.

But she still did not want to die.

She wanted to see the arts as Saber had seen.

She wanted to know the world like Rani did.

She wanted to pursue her dreams like Rin did.

She wanted to

She wanted to

She wanted to

She did not want to disappear now; she had barely drunk from the spring of life!

What was the purpose of these eight weeks if she were to just disappear now?

It was pointless, she knew, but she would still fight for her right to live, even as her limbs disappeared and her body shut down, she still tried to desperately fight it!

And, just as it had nearly eight weeks ago, something took note of the dying person's struggle. It was not of the Moon Cell, but it was a being of unimaginable power. And it decided that if this person was no longer needed here, then perhaps she could be of use somewhere else.

Just as Hakuno Kishinami's world went dark, she thought she heard the sound of breaking glass.

Kirijo Group laboratory, Yakushima

3rd person POV

Takeharu Kirijo disembarked the helicopter as soon as it hit the ground and he all but ran past the harried scientists that were supposed to act as his welcoming committee.

"Report" he demanded as the leader of the group caught up to him.

"Sir, sometime after the Dark hour last night, one of the experimental 7th generation ASW's that we still have activated by itself. We do not know how or why, as the ASW project has been frozen ever since the incident nine years ago. Anyway the ASW in question, project name 'Praetor', then proceeded to wander out of the storage facility in the lower levels and was soon spotted and detained by the base personnel. We're currently holding it in one of the laboratories on level four, with two security teams nearby and a third group looking through the storage for specialized equipment for subduing ASWs", the scientist –Professor Kazama Hiro by his nametag– explained.

"The base personnel just caught her?" Takeharu asked disbelievingly, " ASW's were made to destroy Shadows, I have a hard time believing the security guards could just capture her even if she had no weapons on her. The ones I saw when I was young could take small arms fire and bend steel beams with just their bare hands."

"Ah, the Praetor is a bit different from the production models. But the reason it was so easy, is that despite being active, the Praetor isn't complete yet. While at full power it should possess inhuman strength, it can currently barely stand up. It could walk around because it was leaning on the walls for support. We suspect there is something wrong with its balance system, the project was never finished after all. Anyway, the Praetor has also demonstrated a remarkably civil attitude, not at all what you would expect from a spontaneously activating weapon really, and so it came quietly", the professor explained and handed Takeharu a tablet as they stepped into an elevator. Takeharu snatched the tablet with his other hand as he pressed the correct floor number and then begun to read what seemed to be the last official report on the 'Praetor project'.

First he glanced at the picture of the android frame. Surprisingly, there wasn't a supermodel made of steel and synthetic skin there, but a completely ordinary girl. She had long, slightly wavy brown hair and matching eyes, but otherwise she was completely bland. Not tall or short, not really beautiful or ugly and her proportions were normal. There was nothing really distinguishing in her form; like a background character in a movie. Briefly Takeharu wondered why the engineers suddenly veered off the previous trend of trying to make the androids more and more beautiful, but he discarded the thought as unnecessary. Then he focused on the project itself. Hmm. Meant to work as a leader unit, hence the name. Frame built with focus on mental abilities as well as wide array of sensors in mind, which takes away from purely physical abilities. Project scrapped because even with the improved technology for creating 'souls' that the 7th generation models utilize, it wasn't possible to ensure that the created 'soul' and Persona would fit the frame's skillset. Rest of the report was mainly technical jargon that meant nothing to a businessman so Takeharu skipped it.

"So do we have any idea why this happened? It says here that the Praetor was not fitted with a Papillon heart before the project was scrapped", Takeharu asked the scientist who was now nervously switching from one foot to another.

"No, sir. As far as we can tell, nobody has visited the storage facility it was in in years. Current hypothesis is that the scientists working on the project installed a temporary Papillon heart to test the systems, but the scientist responsible died in the incident nine years ago before extracting it. Then the heart just lied in dormancy until an odd energy spike activated it. We should know more after some tests", the man answered and Takeharu nodded.

"Sounds plausible. I trust Ikutsuki has already been informed of this?"

"Yes. He should be here later tonight."

"Good, see that he meets with me as soon as possible. He has worked with active ASWs before, he should know what to do even better than I." They had time to exchange a few more sentences before the elevator tinged and let them to the correct floor.

Soon they arrived at laboratory. After checking with the guards at the door that it was safe, they entered and Takeharu saw the android face-to-face. She was sitting on a workbench and had apparently been intently listening as a female scientist explained something to her, though she had stopped when they entered the room.

"Mr. Kirijo! Good morning!" the woman exclaimed when she recognized her, "Praetor this is my boss Takeharu Kirijo, his family funded the project that created you." The mechanical maiden then turned her gaze at Takeharu and bowed.

"Good morning," to Takeharu's surprise, it really sounded like she meant it, "I cannot thank you enough for what you have done." Takeharu nodded in response and tried to remember other ASWs he had interacted with all those years ago. They tended to act very mechanically, especially when young, but this one had seemed remarkably human with just a single sentence. Is there something to this model that was not mentioned in the report? Takeharu wondered, briefly thinking if some other organization had tampered with the ASW but it that was impossible. Not without leaving some evidence somewhere. And it would be found, Takeharu decided and greeted back.

"Morning and don't mention it miss Praetor. While it was my father who created the whole program, your project has been put away for nearly a decade. The fact that you happened to wake up now is pretty much a coincidence", Takeharu noted her frowning at that, but who wouldn't frown when hearing that they exist because of freak accident? "Speaking of which, have you figured out what happened?"

"No sir. We have started some scans, but we haven't really touched her yet, just asked her some things and figure out others. For example, besides the balance issue she has some holes in her programming", the scientist explained, "big holes. As in she doesn't know what a Shadow is. Or an Anti-Shadow Supression Weapon."

"Is that even possible?" Takeharu had to ask.

"Evidently. But we really have to take a look into her programming to know more." At this, all the humans in the room turned towards the Praetor.

"Oh… I don't think I'd be comfortable with that", she remarked and Takeharu had to agree. While ASWs did have a soul, or close enough to matter, their origins were still machines. Their programming was what they were and if someone were to tamper with it, even a small change could have tremendous effects. It was not something you let just anyone get their hands on. Still, it was worrying. ASWs were dangerous, even without Personas. If one were to go on a rampage, multiple deaths were guaranteed. That's why all ASWs had programming in place to keep a tight leash on them. But if Praetor had activated through some divine prank before she was ready, she probably didn't have those limitations in place.

That was dangerous. But, just because she can be dangerous doesn't mean she will be, Takeharu reminded himself, she has already proven herself reasonable. We can work with that.

"Completely understandable, miss Praetor, but I'm afraid it is required. As you have been probably told…?" Takeharu eyed the female scientist, who nodded eagerly, "ASWs, such as yourself, are built for a purpose. A dangerous purpose and as such, we have to be certain of their functionality. Especially in your case, when you really shouldn't be activated at all. For example, I've been told your legs don't work like they should, imagine if you have something wrong with you combat protocols and they suddenly activate near civilians." Takeharu noticed how Praetor's eyes widened at the realization. Such a human response, Takeharu couldn't help but notice, maybe she has an extra-large Plume of Dusk? I think those caused the ASWs to have an identity faster. But this one wasn't supposed to even have one.

"I see. I understand what you mean", Praetor admitted, "I still don't like it."

"That is unfortunate as this is absolutely necessary is there some way we could convince you?" Takeharu queried and to his relief the Praetor seemed to actually think about it for a moment, but she then shook her head in negative.

"I'm afraid not. While you and the scientists I have met here seem the good sort, I can't really trust you with my mind after just meeting you."

"Regrettable. We can postpone the investigation a few days, but I'm afraid you will have to be detained in the base for that. Maybe we can somehow prove our reliability to you during those days" Takeharu compromised. They could always force the ASW to comply after the security teams found the right tools, or just take her when she was recharging, but that didn't really sit well with Takeharu, especially after seeing how human Praetor already was. Her whole programming could crash if it was modified roughly, effectively killing her.

"Thank you for understanding", Praetor bowed as well as she could while sitting on the table.

"It is only temporary I'm afraid. But in the meantime let us focus on what we can do. Miss Maki, you said you had already scanned her…?"

"Yes sir, I already forwarded the results to you" the female scientist nodded eagerly and pointed the tablet Takeharu was still holding. Takeharu noticed an icon blinking and after clicking it, several pictures and diagrams popped into view. The most prominent one was what Takeharu remembered as a Papillon heart: two crystalline plumes of dusk crossed over each other.

And there where the Plumes crossed, was a grain of something. Takeharu almost dismissed it as a piece of rubbish or distortion in the sensors, but the laboratory equipment was top notch, it would not just distort things. And a Papillon heart was an extremely sensitive piece of equipment that was sealed airtight in the chassis as even just breathing on it could cause contamination. There should be no rubbish there, not even after nine years of neglect.

Then what was this? The sensors couldn't tell, except that it was different sort of crystal than the Plumes. Did the Plumes transform somehow? No that's ridiculous, there would have been cases earlier, Takeharu tried to look over the data from the scan, but a question interrupted him.

"A photonic crystal?" Takeharu's head snapped towards Praetor who was peering at the tablet from where she was sitting.

"A what?"

"Photonic crystals are crystalline material that has the ability to manipulate light. Earliest studies of the material are from 1887, although the term itself was created in 1987. Since it can manipulate light it can be used for anything that needs manipulation of light, for example optic lenses and optic computing", Takeharu nodded at Praetors explanation and quickly verified the information with the tablets internet access.

He also checked if Kirijo Group had done any research into the material.

"Well it seems Kirijo Group was doing something concerning photonic crystals at the time you were manufactured, but according to the files it was purely theoretical work", Takeharu announced after checking the results, "still, it's a possibility. Why'd you guess its photonic crystal?"

"Ah, I'm not exactly sure. I think I accidentally activated some sort of program? I just looked at the picture and tried to read the text under it, but then I got a summarization of it."

"Well, you are supposed to be a leader unit. Enhanced data gathering programs are to be expected", Takeharu nodded at the explanation, and quickly found the part of the data where the grain's nature was speculated on, "but I think we should run a few more tests, though they can wait until our expert, well closest thing we have to an expert, on ASW's get here. I will instruct the scientists to prepare a recharge station for you. In the meantime, you" Takeharu motioned at the female scientist, "can fill her in with the most important things about her purpose." After getting confirmation, Takeharu left the laboratory though he didn't go far.

After checking that the security teams were finally appropriately armed, Takeharu was escorted into a meeting room where several scientists, but not Ikutsuki, were waiting.

"So, I seem to remember getting a report that said that we could not make more ASW's or repair the damaged ones since the engineers specializing on them died with my father. Can anyone explain how this prototype just got up and if we can revive another?"

Hakuno Kishinami POV

I'm terribly confused.

One moment I'm being deleted, then the fading sensation gets replaced by a feeling of being compressed into a tiny space and then moved somewhere else. I first thought it was Rani again, hacking the system and then forcibly relocating me somewhere else.

My first elated thought was that Rani had saved me.

But then the cold reality asserted itself. Rani may have been able to hack me when I was in the arena as it was not that well protected –hell, even I managed to fish information through it with the right tool. And this time I was in the core of the Moon Cell Automaton. Not even Twice could hack it, he didn't even dare to step into it. Rani couldn't possibly have hacked it, not even if she spent all her Command Spells to it.

So I concluded that my relocation was a part of the deletion process, a one way trip to the Recycle Bin.

And then my sight came back.

It was so surprising, I didn't know what to think. For a moment I didn't even have eyes, then suddenly a flash and a stylish logo of Kirijo Group dominated my view. Then came several system startup messages, and my other senses started to come back to me, I could feel my limbs again, my ears picked up the mechanical humming of a large machine and I could feel something supporting my back and keeping me upright.

Then the last loading screen disappeared and I found myself looking through a green glass.

After a brief freaking out that I was still alive, I had assessed my situation.

I was in some sort of hi-tech pod in a storage area. I almost though it was the cryo unit where the real Hakuno Kishinami was stored, but this one didn't have any sign of ice on it, so I ruled it out. Then I noticed that my body was different, namely that my shoulders and hips were metallic joints. Then I realized that the only thing I felt was the pressure of my seat. I didn't feel cold, or warm or hungry or anything. I just was.

I admit freaking out again, I think I put my fist through the pods glass panel –it wasn't actually green, the light was- too.

Anyway, when I calmed down I managed to open the pod from within, after which I proceeded fall flat on my face on the ground, since I hadn't noticed that my new legs lacked feet, instead ending on stumps at my ankles.

It is a stupid design if you ask me, but at least they were on decent enough size instead of the sharp blades of the Effigies from the preliminary round of the Grail War.

I wandered around the storage area for a bit first, but after I failed to find any explanation I left the area and soon ran into some guards. Things got a bit tense, but luckily I managed to talk it down. Soon some scientist types came up –no doubt called by the security- and started poking and scanning me. As a sign of goodwill, I let them do them. After all, they were probably the ones responsible of my robotic body, though there were still multiple unanswered questions.

Eventually they got their scans done and left me alone with a younger female researcher called Airi Maki. She was quite friendly and she answered some of my questions to the best of her ability. That was when I learned what I am now: an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon. A combat android meant to fight beings known as Shadows. Built into human shape to help develop a human psyche and with that, the ability to use something called a Persona. Apparently this 'Persona' is some sort of mental construct that one places between itself and the world. I'm not sure I understood correctly what she meant, but we were interrupted by the appearance of Takeharu Kirijo, the CEO of Kirijo Group.

I got the impression he was a good man, if terribly stressed (I have medical scans to prove it). He didn't push the issue of my… programming, although he did make it clear it would eventually happen.

I'm not really looking forward to it.

The concept itself is nothing new to me, I've had my mind worked on many times before. There was the preliminary round of the Grail War where everyone was made to think that they were ordinary high school students. Then there was Caster and her reality marble that made me forget everything again. And finally, there was that time when Rani installed an Anti-Lancer Firewall Bypass in me, so that I could better see through Lancer's tactics.

But those times were all either forced on me or done by a trusted friend with consent. This time its going to be people I just met. People who want a weapon. As far as I can tell, I do not have any programming at the moment so they will no doubt add something in there. A safety or control mechanism of some sort.

A Command Seal equivalent.

An undeniable command I would have to follow. It may be hypocritical of me to fear that somebody has that kind of power over me, considering that I too once held three of them over a friend. But the Command Seals were more than just tool for obedience. They were a proof of being a Master, of a contract between Master and a Servant. Sure they could be used to bend a will, but they could be used to help the Servant too. Whatever program they'd add to me, would probably be one that forces me to obey.

Would that change me deeply? I remember some of the NPC's in Moon Cell. Issei and his routine checks of the incoming students in the morning, even if they ignored him. Sakura and her love of cooking, but restricted to once per Master per week. Taiga falling onto her desk every morning.

Would I even be aware of the changes?

…

Should I try to escape? Where would I go?

…That actually leads to another problem I found out.

The tablet Takeharu had been using, had a date displayed at the corner. At first I didn't pay it attention, but then I realized the year displayed.

24th of February 2009.

The Grail War happened in 2030.

There are some other details that don't match either –there is no halting of technological development and from what Airi told me, magic is in no way declining.

Then what were those first eight weeks of my life?

I can't deny that they happened, the memories and feelings are too clear. But nothing I've found out after I woke up has made any sense in its context.

I'm so confused.

I sigh as I lie back onto the seat of the recharging unit that was prepared for me. It resembles the pod I woke up in, except that it doesn't have a door and inside of it is a reclining chair made of steel. There are some electric doodads on it and just laying on it is enough to bring a recharging counter to my HUD.

Speaking of which, that will take some time to get used to.

After the few mishaps (which prove Takeharu's point of needing to check my functionality) I had managed to learn how to switch on or off several different programs or modes, the method was similar enough to Code Casting. There was some sort of diagnostic vision that summarized walls of text, took some basic medical scans and analyzed the breathing air (Why do I need to breathe?). There was also thermal vision, night vision, a motion tracker and body integrity tracker. There was probably more, but since I hadn't found an owner's manual, I didn't know of them. Luckily they could all be turned off, so I could feel a bit more human when I wanted.

Now that I think about it, that is probably the reason. ASW's are supposed to develop this 'Persona' thing after all and its supposed to be easier for humans. I think. Airi wasn't really an expert of the subject, so we just skimmed it, though I resolved to find out more about them later. After all, they seemed to be an important thing when it came to fighting these Shadows… And I'm sure I would end up fighting them eventually, either out of choice or against my will.

Probably the latter. During my short life, I have fought a lot and thrived through it. But it was always out of necessity. It was always, me or them. I couldn't live and let them live. No matter how much I wanted to stop Saber from delivering the finishing blows, I've had to restrain myself and just look them in the eyes as they were deleted. I've never gone out of my way to fight anything. And I think I will never want to.

As I lay there on the charger I suddenly realize how tired I am. I check my battery, but it is over 75% and steadily filling. So how come I'm tired? Is this another function to make me more human? I really can't tell. Why do I have a preinstalled thermometer but not a manual?

I sigh again and try to find a comfortable position. If I can sleep, it'll at least take my mind off things.

As I feel sleep coming for me, I reflexively try to look around for my ever present crimson clad servant but she is, of course, nowhere to be found.

This is a bit lonely.