Rin awoke groggily several hours later, the bright noon light muted by drawn shades. Someone, probably Melva, had pulled off Rin's shoes and tucked one of the large fluffy blankets over her. Rin sat up and spent a moment massaging the stiffness out of her leg as she gathered her wits. A quick glance at the clock told her she had an hour or so before her meeting with Magnus Barthomeloi. Her room had its own bathroom so she bathed and dressed in silence.
She chose an outfit that she had favored while she was a student at the Clocktower, a red sweater over a dark skirt. It was something Magnus would remember from when they were students together, when he was pursuing her romantically. Even though she had no intention of going farther than idle flirtation Rin wasn't above using Magnus's feelings for her to manipulate him into revealing more than he intended to. She also wore a pair of thigh high opaque stockings to hide the new scar on her leg.
Rin had never been a vain woman. She was peripherally aware that she would be considered beautiful and she recognized the effect that she had on men. But she had never had time for romance, for primping and preening and gussying up to impress boys. Most men she knew were either idiots or self absorbed cads, none were the sort that could hold her interest. She had been courted by men like Magnus off and on since she had budded into a woman but none of them had ever managed to wrangle more than a date out of her. She was too focused on her studies. Still, she didn't like the idea of unsightly marks marring her perfect appearance. She worked hard at everything she did including the façade she presented to the world. Scars were simply unbecoming.
When she went to rouse Berserker she found him in the room that had been set aside for him just a little way down the hall from hers.
"Come in." His deep voice came from behind the door when she rapped on it.
Berserker was standing in the middle of the room, his back to Rin. He glanced at her as she approached and then brought his gaze back to the window. He was looking at the charred top of the tower where he had been summoned, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"What were you doing?" Rin asked, curious about what he had gotten up to while she was asleep.
The silence dragged on for a long moment, not forced or awkward, but simply an extended pause. Just when Rin thought he wouldn't answer Berserker spoke.
"I was just thinking. Trying to remember. It's odd. Normally when the mind has nothing active to occupy it it retreats into memory. I have no memories and so I have no frame of reference for who I am. Does that mean that I have no character, no personality? Is a man the sum of the events that led up to the current moment of his life? Or is there something else that determines what he is, if he is good or evil?"
Rin was somewhat taken aback. She knew that the issue of his amnesia was weighing heavily on him but she hadn't considered what a toll it was taking. She had been so focused on her goals she had forgotten to consider what Berserker needed.
"What do you think?" She asked. "These are questions that philosophers have been asking for years and years. For what it's worth, I think you're a good man."
Berserker looked at her, his eyes filled with…sadness? Regret? Confusion?
"I wonder. I cannot remember, and yet something that I cannot define makes me uneasy about myself. I know that was a warrior, that I fought and probably killed. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. I hope that I was a good person, that I fought to help people. I'm just not sure. I get the feeling that I…" Berserker trailed off. As if coming back to reality his attention focused once more on Rin.
"But that is neither here nor there. What do you wish of me, Master?"
Berserkers identity issues were definitely something that would bear revisiting, but for now they had a job to do.
"Go have Shane pull the car around. We're going to meet with an old colleague of mine."
…
They arrived at the Resturante de Lujo a short time later after one quick stop. Rin had gotten the idea after Shane had helped her and Ilya find the news story on the computer. She had him take them to a small electronics shop where she purchased several cheap prepaid cellphones, the kind that you recharge with phone cards and don't require a contract to use.
Most mages communicate using magic or letters, the same unfamiliarity with modern technology relegating them to outdated means of correspondence. Any mage monitoring her would be able to detect magical communications. On the other side of the coin they probably wouldn't even consider tapping a cell phone or even checking to see if she was using one.
"You stay in the car with Shane." She instructed Berserker as the Bentley pulled up to the ornate entrance of the restraint. It was a gaudy affair, exactly the sort of place Magnus would pick. Gilding climbed in intricate patterns up fluted columns cut in the Greek style. The crest of the façade was topped by a crown of garish neon proclaiming the name of the restaurant, its points shaped from five proud stars.
"I'll call you if there's trouble." She said. She would have preferred to have Berserker by her side but she couldn't risk taking him into the restaurant with her. If she did and Magnus turned out to be a master he would be able to use his magical stat vision to see how weak Berserker was. It would damage Rin's bargaining position.
Shane pulled up to a stop in front of the restaurant got out to open the door for her. Berserker looked particularly stoic in a pair of aviator sunglasses that Shane had lent him to hide his milky white blind eye. As Rin was mounting the steps a couple exited the restaurant and the glass door swung open at just the right angle to catch the light and throw a reflection of the car. Shane and Berserker were both staring at her legs. Rin flushed but when she glanced over her shoulder Berserker was staring straight ahead and Shane was adjusting the rear view mirror and whistling nonchalantly. Perhaps just a bit too nonchalantly.
Rin resisted the urge to march back to the car and slap them both senseless. Her violent thoughts were interrupted as she stepped into the cool interior of the restaurant, the soft tinkling of fine glassware and light chamber music replacing the sounds of traffic and vibrant life from outside. The maitre d' cleared her throat from behind a narrow desk.
"What!" Rin snapped and the woman, cowed, wrung her hands apologetically.
"Forgive me, Senora, but your reservation?"
Rin softened.
"Senorita. And I'm meeting someone. Magnus, party of two."
The maitre d' quickly scanned down a ledger and tapped a name.
"Ah, you mean party of three. Right this way, please." She said, bowing humbly and gesturing for Rin to follow her.
Rin was instantly on her guard. Three? Her, Magnus, and who else? Her every sense was alert as she made her way to the table. It was only a short way from the entrance and Magnus sat facing her. Rin realized that this meant that he would have an excellent view of everyone that entered or left the restaurant while Rin would have to sit with her back to the door, obviously a deliberate ploy to put her off balance. To his right was seated a tall blonde haired woman of perhaps thirty in a conservative business suit. She was beautiful but severe, a statuesque face framing heavily lidded eyes that scanned the restaurant with all the intensity of a predator.
"Rin my dear, how wonderful to see you!" Magnus said as he rose, arms wide. He embraced Rin and placed a light kiss on either cheek before politely pulling her chair out for her. Rin accepted, never taking her eyes off the blonde across the table from her. The blonde stared back with equal intensity, her eyes weighing and measuring.
"Why Magnus, you haven't changed a bit." Rin fibbed. Magnus's cherubic baby fat had been replaced by a moon faced indifference. He had never grown into his features, his eyes seemed lost in a round face with a weak chin and droopy eyebrows. He neither overweight nor underweight but he gave the impression of someone who did not exercise regularly, a soft body formed out of dough. He wasn't ugly. He was simply average. Forgettable.
"Ah, but you flatter me." He said, a smile crinkling his eyes and bring back some of the boyish exuberance Rin remembered.
"I'm surprised you didn't bring your, ah, partner." As he spoke he leaned forward casually, resting an elbow on the table. The motion pulled up his sleeve ever so slightly revealing the edges of a deep red mark on his forearm. Command seals. Rin smiled sweetly, her suspicions confirmed.
"Sometimes direct action is called for, sometimes subtlety is the better choice. Rest assured, my Servant is nearby."
Magnus's eyes betrayed him, darting around momentarily before settling back on Rin's face. She could feel Magnus fighting the urge to look around the restaurant. He had clearly expected to be able to size up her Servant. The implication that he was waiting in hiding to strike gave Rin back some power in the conversation.
"So, now that our cards are on the table, why have you called me here?" She asked.
"Can't we just be old friends catching up?"
Rin fixed him with a flat stare.
"Alright, alright." He chuckled, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "I called you here to discuss a...conditional cease fire. We have a history, you and I. I'm not proposing an alliance, simply that neither of us will interfere with the other until such time as our two servants are the last two standing."
Rin's heart leapt even as her keen mind began calculating the risks and benefits of such an alliance. Without knowing how weak Berserker was in relation to the other Servants such an arrangement would be far more beneficial to Rin than to Magnus. How long would it take him to find that out? And would he honor their arrangement once he did? Rin had no illusions. He would betray her the moment it was convenient. She simply had to make him believe that he had more to gain by removing the possibility of conflict with her servant. Still...
"And the condition?" She asked cautiously.
Magnus leaned back and steeped his fingers in front of him, his face serious.
"I want access to all the Tohsaka family's files on the Omega Weapon." He said.
Rin carefully kept the confusion from showing on her features. What was he talking about? Omega? It wasn't anything Rin had ever heard of.
"That isn't something I can promise without authorization from the family head." Rin bluffed desperately, hoping that Magnus would unwittingly give up more information. Whatever Omega was it was obviously important enough to him to give up some serious considerations.
"Besides, a cease fire benefits both of us. What do I get in exchange for the information?"
"What do you want?" Magnus asked.
Rin's mind raced. Asking for the wrong thing could tip her hand and let Magnus know that she didn't have the faintest clue what the Omega Weapon was.
"Fair is only fair. I want the Barthomeloi files on the weapon in exchange."
Magnus looked at her sharply and then a wicked grin spread across his features. He laughed and Rin cringed inwardly. What had she said to tip him off? Still laughing Magnus stood and tossed his napkin onto the table. He moved to Rin's side and rested a hand on her shoulder, leaning down to whisper in her ear.
"You don't know a thing, do you? You really should have brought your Servant."
He stood and began walking towards the exit. Rin was prepared to bolt at any instant. She didn't get the chance. Magnus spoke without turning, waving nonchalantly over is shoulder as he gave the order.
"Lancer, kill her."