As Scott lost consciousness…
"He's going about this the wrong way." Said Koine.
"I know. This stuff isn't going to be in some library book or even a corrupt politician's head. Only leading members of organizations like the Illuminati or Cosmo Entelecheia would even have a chance of knowing what we need. Too bad loosening the lips of people like that involves sinking to depths so low they'd repulse even the most ruthless contract killers. They won't do what it takes, I doubt any of us could." He said with eyes closed while shrugging his shoulder's, smiling, "Still, Don't knock the man if you don't have a better idea."
"Oh but I do. See that anomaly is the key. He's all we ever needed." She responded.
"How so?"
"Think about it. The throne is, at its core, a weapon." Her voice and manner became detached and intellectual, like she was lecturing a class of students, "More specifically, a weapon that affects the minds of its victims. We know for a fact that the throne deletes memories. However, I doubt that's the true extent of its power. It's probably able to do far more than merely turn you into a blank slate. Thus, I believe that the areas around the information we require are defended by illusions, induced compulsions, memory charms, et cetera. That's what the dream I had last night said anyway."
"Ok, so if what you're saying is true, how do we make those facts useful?", It took him a second to finish processing the last part, "Wait, a dream? That's what gave you this idea! I thought you believed prophetic dreams are bullshit!"
Ignoring his protest, she continued, "I bet the treasure hunting guilds have stories and information about ruins and sites that they can't fully explore for some reason or difficult dungeons with unsprung traps that had absolutely nothing in the final chamber. Places like that are more likely to be related to the throne and thus may contain what we're looking for."
"You know, that probably won't narrow it down much. And that assumes they'll even tell you. Treasure hunters see things like that as a mystery or a personal challenge. They don't like outsiders butting in to steal their glory…or treasure as the case may be."
"Well then," she grabbed a strange looking device on the table next to her and stood up with a wicked smile on her face and an evil look in her eye, "I'll just have to try my best to 'convince' them, now won't I?"
Vajra produced a large hammer out of nowhere and hit her on top the head with it, "Stop it."
"Well how else do you propose we get our hands on the information then!" She complained, rubbing the lump on her head.
He smiled and said, "Convince them, how else?"
"That's exactly what I just said!" she yelled into his face with her fists at her waist.
"Yes, but I intend to convince them in a more traditional way." He responded, maintaining his sedate composure.
"Well, I thought fear and pain are the most ancient and therefore most traditional ways to convince someone." She retorted.
"Yeah, but the third and most acceptable method is smooth talk and lots of booze. Cheap booze preferably." He said the last part with eyes closed and a finger in the air.
"Then what's the second method?" She was pressing her breasts against him again.
"You're using it, and whatever it is, the answer is no."
"Awwwww…"
"Normally I'd say yes, but we both have work to do. I'll start hitting up the bars hunters frequent and you can start hacking guild databases, I'm sure we'll find something."
"You're always sure."
"If nothing else, ya gotta have faith that things will work out so long as you're doing the right thing."
"And hacking into secured databases and getting unsuspecting hunters shitfaced is 'the right thing to do' is it?" She said hoping to catch him in a contradiction.
"Hell yeah it is! Information deserves to be free. And those hunters don't have to drink those shots of tequila I order them if they don't want to, now do they?"
"Ok ok I get the picture. How's that data you promised me coming?"
"Pretty good, the operative just got the weapon we modified, once that other package arrives that data's as good as ours."
"What is it anyway?
"No idea, but that's what makes it so exciting!"
"You sure it's good?"
"Ab-so-lutely. There are people on both sides who would give their collective nuts for the info I suspect I have incoming."
"You'd better be ri~iiiight." She said playfully.
"I am, you'll see." He said, secretly unsure of it himself. Still, the stories his source had told him. He wouldn't lie to him, they were too close to each other, trusted each other too much… no way it wasn't going to be incredible.
Meanwhile…
"You're too reliant on that artifact, unsummon it immediately!" Ordered Mikoto.
Alex's progress in these last few months could best be described as "absolutely frightening". He hadn't even picked up a sword or used a cantrip before he met her. Now she wasn't so much teaching him as she was being his sparing partner. His natural affinity for a large, single sword pleased her. An individual's weapon ought to reflect their core personality, and that sword certainly reflected Cipher's (in her eyes at least).
"You've yet to even damage the thing despite directly attacking it this whole time. I doubt I'll ever be wanting of it." He responded.
"That doesn't matter, a true warrior prepares for every eventuality. That artifact should function as your trump card, not as your primary means of attack! Now unsummon it or I chop off your arms. Understand!"
"Fine. Abeat." The artifact disappeared, leaving him shirtless with tattered jeans. If only he had the chiseled body that would make such an image sexy.
"Now, come at me again." She said.
"I'd rather not." He said as flames erupted around his sword. He slashed, sending a trail of flames towards Inari at great speed, engulfing her in a large explosion.
"That should do it." He thought. A moment later she slashed her sword, dissipating the smoke enough for him to see her clearly, a pure, white aura was flaring around her body. The manifestation of the ultimate art, kanka.
"My turn." She said.
She instantly closed the distance between them, a slim smile arcing across her face. She rapidly slashed at Alex with her swords. He managed to defend himself against the relentless onslaught, but not for long. She broke his guard moments later and landed a heavy hit to his midsection. Her smile widened, then disappeared when a human shaped piece of paper replaced Cipher.
"The end." he thought as he moved two fingers in front of his face. A powerful gravity well formed below her feet and compelled her submission. She was down on one knee, unable to move. He came from behind a tree, a haze swirling around him.
"Come now Inari, you're smarter than this. 'War is the way of deception' remember?"
"I do." A piece of paper now replaced her.
"Burst!" He yelled as the haze froze for an instant before unleashing powerful winds all around him. Inari was caught in their midst and blown high into the sky.
"This ought to impress you," He thought as he cloaked his blade in shadows and launched them at her position. She managed to regain her balance and slice through the attack right before it would have hit her.
"Not good enough…" She said. A pillar of fire was following a split second behind. She managed to cancel it with her other sword. She thought that was the end, but instead of seeing Cipher standing on the ground below, she beheld him flying towards her right behind the flames. She barely managed to block this rather uncharacteristic move. This change in his behavior filled her with joy.
"No mercy whatsoever, that's the way my apprentice! You've finally started to learn!" She thought.
The din of clashing steel filled the air. He was seriously trying to kill her now, another break with character that made her proud.
"Yes, that's it. I knew there was still a bit of that cold-blooded killer left somewhere in there!" She thought. After a few more moments he screwed up. He fell for her feint, he thought she was open, but she wasn't. She dodged his attack perfectly. Now he was wide open. She instinctively kicked him the moment he opened himself up, sending him hard into a tree. Once more, a puff of smoke revealed a humanoid sheet of paper. An incredibly intense gravity well formed below her, drilling her face hard into the dirt. She struggled to get up on her knees.
"Darn, I was hoping that last clone's act would've done some damage. Oh well, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Now, my dear master, you will sub-MIT!" The well intensified, forcing her into a pose befitting his command.
"Why didn't you do this…earlier?" She asked, her arms and legs buckling under the strain.
"Well, I didn't want to get serious with you until you had done the same with me." He said blankly.
"Well said. Too bad I'm not serious yet." Her aura intensified by an order of magnitude, illuminating the night sky. She broke through the well and rushed towards Alex, "But I am now!"
"Oh shit!" He thought as he raised his guard. He held out for a few moments, but it would have been obvious to anyone watching that he was thoroughly outclassed. She broke through and landed several direct hits. As a result, he was rendered a bloody, bruised, and unconscious mess. Still, no matter what, his obstinance had forced her to get well and truly serious for a moment. Something few opponents had ever managed to accomplish.
"So you're still alive after that…heh…" She propped him up on her shoulder and carried him back to Koine's hideout.
"You're a freak…you know that Cipher? You shouldn't…be anywhere near this powerful… yet...I'm glad though. You're just the kind of student, I always wanted, to teach."
A week after that…
"So, you find out anything?" Asked Vajra.
"Not much, just a few suspicious entries about some ruins in the far northern reaches and a site in the desert without much documentation."
"Really? Incredible! That coincides with the rumors I've been hearing! We have a lead!" He said excitedly.
"Yes, but which one do we pursue?"
"Let's flip for it." He said happily.
"You mean you want to trust the fate of the old world to a coin toss!"
"Says the woman who placed all her faith in some random dream she had after downing half a bottle of 151." He retorted.
"I was tricked by Sneck! Furthermore, I'd bet money you were in on it too you traitor! One of you drunks used sense manipulation to prevent me from telling that fruit juice was alcoholic until it was too late! That kind of spell just happens to be one of your specialties. Right? My 'love'?"
"Hehehe, yeah…"
"Why you…" The veins on her forehead were popping up most prominently.
"Hey, you didn't get a hangover and we all had a great night on the town. You don't remember it of course, but still…"
"Whatever, this is still stupid." She said while thinking "I'll get you two for that later."
"That's the point. Logic, empirical data, and 'being smart' only get you so far. Sometimes, you just have to have faith, trust your instincts. You know, do what feels right, not what you think is right."
"Those are the sentiments of an idiot."
"I wouldn't knock those sentiments if I were you. They are what led me to you in the first place. When I first saw you, my brain screamed 'run, just run. Nothing good can come of getting involved with her', but my heart had other plans. It told me you were the one that would fill my void. If I had listened to my brain, if I had done as logic told me, I wouldn't be with you."
"I could have lived without you." she said while turning away, blushing.
"Perhaps I could have lived without you as well. But you can't tell me we're not happier because we ignored logic and followed our hearts."
"Well…"
"So trust me on this, call it in the air." He flipped the coin high into the air.
"Tails, arctic reaches." He caught the coin a few moments later with a swipe of his hand and opened his palm.
"Tails, wanna go two out of three or just settle on this?"
"This is good enough."
"Ok then, we're headin' north. Wanna split everyone up and have the second team check the desert?"
"No, like a said before, the anomaly…"
"Alex." Vajra corrected her.
"Is the key. Without it,"
"Him."
"Any expedition is doomed to fail."
"I see, wanna tell Niven then?"
"No, I want to surprise him."
"Ok, that counts out Emiya then. But how do we leave him high and dry? He'll rat us out at first opportunity."
"With telepathy I take it?"
"Of course! They can communicate…oh wait."
"Precisely."
"But his range isn't all that good. It's what, two meters?"
"Not anymore, I've been helping it develop a technique to increase the range. It's such a good specimen, does exactly what I tell it to." She touched her chest. Nothing revved her engine quite like a fascinating, cooperative test subject.
"That's not a good thing Koine. I just don't know what it is about him. Sure he can easily pass for a soulless automaton, but that doesn't change the fact that he's kind, interesting to talk too, and damn near everything else I like to see in people. I ought to love the guy. Yet whenever he gets anywhere near me I just…Gah! This is your department, tell me why that is already!"
"Simple, it..." She was interrupted.
"Stop referring to him like he's some kind of object!"
"Ok ok. Ii, He, emits a kind of negative brainwave that cancels everyone else's out."
"Negative brainwaves," He tilted his head, "is that even possible?"
"Apparently so. You're right to question though, his existence really shouldn't be possible. He violates all our current laws of magic and science. His presence is totally and completely unexplainable by any modern theory. To put it in your terms, he is something straight out of Lovecraft. His presence is in all conceivable ways a sin against our preconceived 'natural' order. He ought not exist, yet he does, and that fact scares the living hell out of us on an instinctual level."
"Woah, that's just…I honestly can't describe that. But doesn't that mean if he starts to broadcast…"
"Why do you think I'm bringing…Sneck." She said disdainfully.
"Yeah, you try fighting while you're shitfaced, not as fun as you'd think."
"You won't have to be. People can get used to just about anything, and we're just about used to him. Just don't look into his eyes."
"Why not?"
"The technique broadcasts an especially strong signal through his line of sight, if you look him in the eyes when he uses that technique…"
"Lord almighty, it'd be a full on mind rape! You explain his predicament to him yet?"
"Yes, but he didn't believe me."
"Tell him in my terms?"
"Yes. He still didn't."
"Why not?"
"I Don't know. I think he's just lying to me. He doesn't want to believe it, but deep down he knows it's the truth. It explains everything that's happened to him perfectly. But that means it was always and everywhere his own fault."
"He ought to know it's not. It was always and everywhere his curse. And ultimately, I'd like to think, his blessing. I know a guy online that thinks all hardships of that nature are a test from Niven's God. Those who pass the trials of God go on to do great things and experience happiness beyond their wildest imagining." Said Vajra as he began to chug a glass of water.
"Speaking of which, I did some digging into that story like you asked. There is indeed a 'Scott Cipher', and one 'Alexander Cipher' is listed as the adoptive father." He swallowed the last ounce hard.
"So…he really does have a kid huh?"
"He said as much to Inari. That kid is probably why he's even doing all of this in the first place."
"So he was telling the truth the entire time, thought he was, but..." If Alexander ever got wind of what his scheming involved…he hid his fear perfectly.
She looked at him in the eye with a smile, "I never doubted the story. He's not the type to lie outright."
"How do you know this? Niven's told us about his past remember? Poor liars don't last as long as he did in the underworld."
"He was then, but he shows none of those signs now. He's a very different man from the one who would kill for the highest bidder."
"Again, how do you know this?"
"Because you taught me how to read people. So, did I get it right?"
"Good job Tsuruda, good job. You've mastered that skill if you could read his nigh unflinching poker face! That makes me happy."
"Good, then we won't need Sneck!" She said excitedly.
"Oh no, we're still bringing him, he's a good fighter when the chips are down and we might need him. Especially since Ffion is with Niven at the moment."
"Damnit!" She exclaimed.
"Don't take chances, the smallest thing can mean the difference between a breakthrough or another waste of time. Isn't that your philosophy?"
"One of them…" She conceded reluctantly.
"Ok then."
"But I really don't like him."
"I know. Too bad for you that I tend to like his drunken ass."
"Ok fine, we'll take him. But when we get back that info better be ready for me."
"Oh it will, trust me baby, it will. My man would never let me down."
"You still haven't told me who this 'man' is. Feel like loosening those lips?" She draped her arms around him and looked lustfully into his eyes.
"Nope, not even if you were naked." Alex'd kill him in his sleep if he found out he dragged his son into this. And he knew Koine'd offer that bit of info up as a bargaining chip if he ever refused to consent to any of her upcoming experiments. So, though he was horny as all hell, he refused.
"Damn!" She said.
"'Beauty trumps a man's principles 99 times out a hundred' my ass you cock blocking son of a bitch! When this is all over..." He thought.