I grit my teeth and tried to ignore the burning sensation in my muscles, barely managing to parry Karasuba's thrust in time. As we continued to clash blades on the roof of the mostly empty parking garage, I desperately tried to think of how to get away from the Black Sekirei. She had apparently gotten tired of the little back and forth that the two of us had over the past month and had decided to just finally fight me outright, ambushing me while I was on my way back from work. While I had no interest in fighting her and had spent most of the fight trying to run away, she had relentlessly pursued me from rooftop to rooftop until we ended up at the parking structure. Combat had been going on for about half an hour, and I was starting to tire. It didn't look like I was going to walk away from this one, but if I had read into Karasuba's banter correctly, there was a good chance that she wouldn't kill me after she beat me; she would just turn me into her boy toy instead.

I wasn't quite sure if that was better.

My blocks were getting slower and slower, my exhausted limbs becoming unable to follow my commands. Eventually, Karasuba found a hole in my stance that I hadn't put there and took advantage of it, giving me a well placed kick to my midsection and sending me hurdling into the concrete wall around the edges of the roof. Dazed and in pain, I managed to tilt my head up in time to have the woman put the blade of her katana under it, pressed against my throat.

"Aw, too bad Shiroui-chan," she said in a mocking tone. "It looks like you're going to have to be my plaything from now on. I think Natsuo will appreciate the chance to play with you t-"

That was as far as got before she suddenly jumped back, dodging a sword that flew through the air in the space she was occupying just a moment before. While I normally considered myself accustomed to swords flying through the air, this one caught me off guard because for once, I had nothing to do with it.

Karasuba and I both looked to the side where the blade had come from, and we saw… a man, I think? He was very tall (taller than I was) and was of Semitic decent, with olive colored skin and dark hair. He was dressed only in a pair of simple pants and boots, which showed the most visually striking thing about him: his tattoos. They covered most of his lean body, and mostly seemed to be of leering demonic faces made from various symbols and runes, a few of which I recognized. However, it wasn't because of that that I was uncertain of just what that thing that was stalking towards us was. It wasn't because of the way he held himself reminded me of a predator that considered all else to be beneath him. It wasn't even because his eyes didn't seem to contain anything remotely human, instead just filled with a bloodlust that I had often seen in Karasuba. It was…

Well, to be honest, I wasn't sure what it was. There was just this sense inside me as I looked at the man that he was just WRONG. There was just something missing from him, like he shouldn't exist.

"Oh?" Karasuba remarked with a raised eyebrow. "And who are you? I don't suppose that you happen to be a friend of-"

She was again cut off as the man let out a primal scream and charged the Sekirei, far faster than a normal human could have. In the moment before he cleared the last few feet between the two of them, my Reinforced eyes managed to see the man reaching over his shoulder. With an action that chillingly reminded me of Gilgamesh, what appeared to be a small, black tear in space opened behind him, and from it he drew a black curved black that had the same sense of wrongness about it that he did. It only took the fraction of a second between the drawing of the blade and it crashing against Karasuba's own that I realized just what was causing the sense of wrongness.

I couldn't analyze the blade.

It wasn't like Ea, where looking at it caused me physical pain, or even like the Jinki, which caused my brain to suffer from some kind of divide by zero error. For some reason, my Reality Marble simply didn't acknowledge the thing the man held in his hand, so I just saw it as a sword like any other person normally would. In a way, it also explained the sense of wrongness about the man as well. While I certainly can't analyze living creatures on sight like I can with swords, the part of me that allows me to do so is always on, and subsequently can tell the difference between things. As such, my Reality Marble is capable of recognizing physical objects other than blades, even if I can't Trace them. However, like the blade in his hand, the man was not being seen by my power at all, as if he didn't exist. The feeling of wrongness was coming from the fact that my senses were disagreeing with one another, like hearing a disembodied voice, or walking through what looked like a solid wall.

I wasn't sure if it was the man's intent or just luck on my part, but his attacks drove Karasuba father away from me, the two of them seeming to forget about me entirely as they fought. I only had a few moments to wonder just what the hell was going on before I heard a shout coming from my left. Turning my gaze, I saw about a dozen men in full tactical gear with assault firearms rushing towards me, though they seemed to be more focus on the Sekirei and the… other thing. In fact, when they approached me, the closest asked "Are you alright, sir?"

I blinked in surprise at the man, not expecting him to show concern for my well being. "Ye-yeah. I'll be fine." I managed to stammer out. Who were these people? They didn't have any identifying marks, and I was sure that they weren't from MBI as I had already seen what their tactical squads looked like.

I then heard another voice call out from behind the rest of the squad. "Omega-7, two of you are to keep guard with me and the VIP, and the rest set up a perimeter and keep an eye on Able." The squad of men gave affirmatives, and as they dispersed, I saw another man walking towards me. He was of averaged height with a muscular build, wearing a plain three piece suit and had blond hair in a military cut. Add in the sunglasses and he looked very much the standard 'men in black' stereotype of government agents. There was only one problem with that theory: the smell of magic emanating from the man clearly labeled him as a magus.

"Who are you? Are you from the Mage's Association?" I asked as I shakily got to my feet. The rest of the men present weren't magi at all according to my senses. Needless to say, the fact that a mage seemed to be working directly with normal humans was very strange, if not outright prohibited.

The older man stopped a few feet in front of me and gave me a critical look. "I am Agent Markov, and the organization I work for is not affiliated with Mage's Association."

I raised an eyebrow and gave a wary glance to the two men flanking us. "I suppose that's clear from how you seem to employ non magi." I remarked as I thought the situation over. I didn't have a very extensive knowledge of magic organizations outside of the MA, so it was possible that he was telling the truth. Agent Markov's Japanese had a slight Russian accent to it, so perhaps they were based father east than the MA sphere of influence.

However, the man shook his head. "You misunderstand. My organization is not run by magi. For reasons I'm sure you are aware, it is impractical to have a large number magical practitioners at a given time due to the dilution effect. Given the necessary size of our operation, magi only make up the smallest fraction of our personnel. In fact, I believe it was created without the knowledge of magic's existence at all, only finding that out later. I was the one sent to contact you as it was believed I would have an easier time understanding and negotiating with you."

"What?" I said incredulously. "A non-magic organization that knows of the secret of magic? That's impossible; the Mage's Association would never allow such a thing to exist!"

"Indeed, which is why they think we were destroyed when they assaulted the organization back in the 1800's." Agent Markov gave a smirk. "We'd like for them to keep thinking that."

I stared at the man dumbfounded, not believing what he was implying. "What do you want?"

The man raised an eyebrow of his own. "What my organization wants is to secure the things that threaten the fabric of reality. We want to contain the things that could endanger the world. In short, we wish to protect humanity. Though in a more immediate sense, what we want with you, Shirou Emiya, is to tell you a great many things that we believe will make you agree with our cause." He gave me a weary smile. "I suppose the best place to start would be with your father, or as I knew him, Agent Emiya."

"So, you're saying that my father worked for this… I'm sorry, what was it called?" I asked Markov.

"The SCP Foundation. We Secure. We Contain. We Protect." He replied. When I gave him a confused look, he shrugged. "It makes sense in English."

I paused in thought for a moment before I gave a hum of understanding as I figured out the acronym. For what must have been the third time, I looked over my shoulder towards the adjacent rooftop where I had last seen Karasuba and 'Able' fighting. Agent Markov and I (as well as the two men in tactical gear guarding us) had moved to one level lower in the parking garage to get out of the way, but I still could see the rooftops from my position. The two inhuman creatures had long left my line of sight, but I could still just hear them fighting.

Turning back to the older magus, I said "I'm sorry, this is just a little hard to believe. I was under the impression that my father had mostly worked freelance."

Markov nodded in consent. "Well, it is true that Kiritsugu Emiya wasn't exactly what I'd call a full time employee of the Foundation. Exceptional assets like magi are given more liberties than normal personnel, and one of his stipulations was that he would be given time to work on his own projects. However, I can safely say that he had spent most of his time working directly or indirectly for us. Enough to give him full Agent status, anyway."

"I see." I said slowly, still not quite believing the man's story. "And what exactly did my father do in your employ?"

A small frown came to Markov's lips. "Before I can tell you that, I need to give you a basic idea of just what it is that we do and what we fight against."

I gave a frown of my own. "You said something about the 'things that threaten reality'?"

"Yes, those things. To put it quite simply, there are things in this world that don't make sense. Things that just shouldn't exist, but do anyway in spite of all laws of physics, magic, and logic. More often than not, these things are incredibly dangerous, sometimes to the point of threatening the entire planet. As such, we lock those things away to keep the rest of the world safe."

"Sounds kind of like Atlas…" I remarked, thinking of one of the Three Great Branches of the MA that specialize in alchemy. From what I could remember, the organization's goal was to devise a way to prevent the end of the world, but did so by keeping things which in turn could destroy the world. I remember hearing a saying that went 'Lift not the seal on Atlas, lest you want the world to be destroyed seven times over.'

The Agent nodded. "Yes, which is why they are the only part of the Mage Association that knows of our existence, and only a select few of the higher ranking members at that. The similarity of our goals has led us to develop a mutually beneficial arrangement. They keep us informed of what's going on the supernatural side, and they get access to some our resources. Also, we sometimes find ourselves exchanging objects that belong more in the other's custody."

I gave a small start of surprise at this, but it was still within the realm of possibility. Atlas was always a very independent organization, and I wasn't unthinkable that some of the higher ups may have tapped outside sources for assistance. Still… "You still haven't really told me what these 'things' that you seal away actually are. If it's some kind of magic you don't know about, then it's probably best to just hand it over to more experienced magi to figure it out. I mean, to me it sounds like this Foundation of yours is trying to control something you don't really understand."

The older magus gave a snort as he peered at me over the rim of his sunglasses. "Boy, while I find your presumptions about things you can't possibly understand amusing, I'm afraid I have to inform you that SCP-Objects aren't magical in the slightest. If your sense for magic was good enough, you probably would have realized that considering you just met one."

I paused in confusion for a moment before the realization hit me. "You mean that… that man?" I said in shock, still not sure how to refer to that thing which saved me from Karasuba. "How is that possible? I thought you said they were objects!"

Markov gave a shrug. "We call them SCP-Objects as an easy way of referring to numerous different things that display anomalous properties. Sometimes it's a physical object, others it a living creature, or maybe a location. If we're lucky, we find ways to negotiate or deal with them, like Able. Really, the only restricting thing we have found for an SCP is that is has to be a noun."

"You know that nouns include ideas, right?" I said, trying to keep the increasingly dark picture he was painting from growing any larger.

He gave me a completely flat expression "Yes, I do."

"… you can't possibility be serious."

"They're called Memetic Hazards, and they're among some of the most dangerous things we have."

"How can you possibly have ideas that break the laws of physics?"

He shook his head. "We don't know. Unfortunately, that doesn't change the fact that they still exist. All the SCP objects seem to ignore the laws of reality in some way or another, but for no discernible reason. Just take Able for example. If you could sense magic, you'd know that he doesn't have any at all, and yet he's just able to pull blades of thin air."

I suddenly thought back to when I was looking at 'Able', and that feeling of unease caused by my Reality Marble being unable to 'see' him. I hadn't picked up the scent of magic from him, true, but I had found the other thing to be far more disturbing. "It's like he didn't exist…" I muttered.

Markov raised an eyebrow at this. "So you did notice, although that's a very interesting way of putting it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, most magical senses are capable of sensing the physical object if there is one, although they are completely unable to detect any anomalous properties. What this ultimately means is that while magic is capable of seeing and dealing with the effects of SCP-Objects, it is unable to analyze or understand the source of those effects. Still, magic can still be effective in capture and containment."

"Aright, but I still don't see why my comment was so interesting."

He gave me a careful look. "If the rumors flowing around the Clock Tower are true and you do have a Reality Marble, I then I think I may have a theory on why you seem to perceive Able differently than other magi do, and it has to do with the fact that Alaya can't see their existence either."

I blinked in surprise as the man causally referenced the universal will of humanity. Alaya's duty was to protect humanity from extinction, and did so through the use of the Counter Guardians, people who had exchanged eternal service to the force for a miracle. I felt my blood run cold when I thought about just what it was that Markov meant. "Wait, you said that some of these objects could threaten the entire planet. If you're saying that Alaya can't see them…

"Then it can't deploy the Counter Guardians in order to stop it." The Agent completed for me. "For whatever reason, SCP-Objects are so different from what they're supposed to be that The World is just incapable of perceiving them. Alaya might be able to recognize that humanity is in danger, but without being able to see the source of the danger, it can't do anything to stop it."

I felt incredibly unsettled by how calmly the man was talking about the inability of The World to save itself. As dark as it was, there was always a small reassurance in the back of my mind that humanity would go on, as Alaya would ruthlessly crush any major threat, even if it cost a massive number of innocent lives. The fact that humanity no longer had that safety net was a chilling thought. "So, you're telling me that the universal will of humanity is powerless against these things." I said in a tone that came out more nervous than I had intended.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Markov replied. "Its power works just fine, like any other magic. The problem is that it just can't perceive the source of the threat. If needed, we can still invoke it's miracles to stop anything that would potently destroy the world. I don't know the total number of personnel who have done so, but I do personally know 2 people who are slated to join the Counter Force upon their death."

I gaped at him slightly as the man continued to describe a rather grim reality so casually. "You seem to be taking this rather lightly…" I remarked.

Markov's expression darkened. "Do not think that just because I am used to the sort of thing means that I don't care. Everyone at the Foundation, myself included, understands the seriousness of our mission. If we fail, the rest of humanity could fall with us. We have to be willing to make any sacrifice to insure that the horrifying things that exist in this world don't end it. That was a fact that your father knew well, and why he was willing to work with us."

Oh right. I had almost forgotten about my father after hearing a tale like that. "So, you're saying my father hunted down and captured things like… that?" I asked, gesturing off in the direction of 'Able'.

"That was the majority of the work he did for us, yes."

I narrowed my eyes at the wording of that response. "What else did he do for you?"

Markov titled his head to the side a little. "You don't really think there could be something as potentially powerful and world ending as the Holy Grail War and for the SCP Foundation not to be involved, do you?"

Oh sweet merciful god, why are there always so many conspiracies when it comes to that blasted war? "I thought my father worked for Einzburns during the 4th war."

"Ostensibly, yes. However, it was arranged by the Foundation that Einzburns would have need of his services, which allowed us to have a mole. This practice has been done for every war, as far as I know. Our participating agents were instructed to win the war for the Foundation or to sabotage the whole thing if that isn't an option. Lord knows that no one would like it if someone from the Association managed to get an unlimited wish."

As I thought about it, it did make a sort of sense considering how every war had somehow ended up without a winner. "And the Foundation would have used the wish for…?"

"Finding a way to get rid of all SCP-Objects." He said. "However, it wasn't exactly known if that would work, considering magic's blindness to the things. Not only that, I did have a working relationship with your father and knew how he thought. I knew that he was probably going to wish for world peace like he had always wanted, but such as it was, I figured that it was a safe enough bet that I didn't bother reporting it."

"But things didn't work out." I said, prompting him to continue.

Markov gave a sigh. "No, they didn't. After the war ended, we tried everything we could to cure Emiya's illness, but it turns out a curse stemming from all the evils of mankind is not exactly easy to get rid of. He told us of how the Grail had been corrupted and how he had set off explosives near the leyline in order to prevent the next war from ever happening. The higher ups decide that the best thing we could do was to let him retire on keep an eye on things. Even after he died, I checked up on you ever year or so as a professional curtsy. It looked like things had quieted down in your part of the world."

"Then the 5th Grail War came 50 years early." I said.

He gave a grunt. "No one at the Foundation saw that coming. We had to scramble to put everything in place before the war began, but we still managed to pull it off. Unfortunately, the agent we had in place wasn't as competent as we thought and ended up getting killed by his own Servant."

I blinked in surprise. "You mean he was Caster's Master?"

"That's the one. To make things worse, the witch learned about the Foundation from him, and with the massive boost in power she was getting from sacrificing all those human lives, she was about to keep us out of Fuyuki City for most of the duration of the war. It took us a while to get back into position after she died, and that was right around the time when that giant ball of corrupted flesh began to form. It was lucky that it was destroyed before we could resort to our contingency plan."

"What would that be? Just start throwing SCPs at it and hope for the best?" I asked with a small amount of humor.

"No, we would have detonated the thermonuclear warhead we had hidden in the Ryuudouji shrine for just such an occasion."

With that, the small amount of levity I had managed wilted and died.

Markov continued, not knowing or not caring about my discomfort. "Anyway, to make a long story short, we continued to keep an eye on you after the war ended, right up until the point where you dropped off the grid due to your Sealing Designation. It was pure luck that I happened to find you again. The Foundation has informants in basically ever major country and corporation in the world, and MBI's no exception. Though it wasn't easy as MBI takes its security seriously, we compiled all the information we could on the Sekirei Plan. I had a high enough clearance, so I gave it a look out of curiosity. When I saw that one of the players was behaving in a rather similar manner to your father, I decided to investigate. When I found out that player was you, I convinced the higher ups to give you an offer."

I was silent for a minute as I digested all the information I had just learned. After a while, I said "This sounds interesting, and something I might even consider, but if you know my part in the Sekirei Plan, you know that I'm not willing to leave it just yet."

"I assure you, that will not be a problem. The Sekirei Plan ends today."

I gave a start of surprise "What?"

Markov gave a small smirk. "Do you really think we'd let a insane man-child like Minaka have control over a small legion of super-powered alien females? The man was going to announce their existence to the world on global television for god's sake." He shook his head. "No, you're not the only target the Foundation moved on today. The operation to take over MBI Headquarters stared about an hour ago, and with our moles in place, their will likely be a minimal loss of life."

My expression darkened at this. "And what will happen to the Sekirei? Are you going to lock them up like everything else you find that you can't make sense of?" Given everything Markov had told me about the Foundation, they didn't seem like the most lenient kind of people.

"Normally, yes." The man said without a hint of hesitation or shame. "However, given the fact that the Sekirei seem to be genuinely benevolent to humanity and that MBI has an extensive amount of data regarding their abilities that we will be acquiring shortly, this will not be necessary. It will be handled far more discreetly than what Minaka had intended, and the Sekirei will still maintain the majority of the freedom. In fact, I believe that as we speak another Foundation representative is negotiating with the No. 01."

I continued to glare at him, still not sure if to believe him. "How can I know if I can trust you?"

"You don't. If you say no, you will be free to continue on with your life. Make no mistake though, after today, we will be managing the lives of the Sekirei whether you join us or not. The best way to insure our intentions is to accept the offer I'm giving you." Markov gave a small shrug and the smirk returned to his face. "If that isn't enough for you, I'm sure we could offer to do something about your Sealing Designation to sweeten the deal. Some of the guys and I have bets on just what your relationship was with those two women you were living with, but whatever the case I'm sure you want to see them again."

Carrot and stick, I thought to myself. My lips pressed into a narrow line as I considered this. The whole tale seemed too unbelievable, but I had to admit there was a possibility that it was true. And if there were these 'things' that threatened the world, I was not at all averse to taking them down. Not only that, if he was telling the truth about MBI, the Sekirei would probably need my help to keep the Foundation from abusing them, and I had a better chance of doing that from within the organization than without.

Eventually, I said. "I'm still not sure if I believe you, but if what your saying does turn out to be true, then I guess working for you is my only option."

A more genuine small crossed Agent Markov's face, and he said "Welcome to the SCP Foundation, Agent Emiya."