Here's the nineteenth chapter, folks!
* Review Response:
orion0905, Cleston, god of all, Jostanos, Ninja4hir3, thank you for your reviews, folks!
ShirouYagami16, Guest, Fate's probably the best TSAB character to introduce Harry to the Bureau. That said, she isn't the first Nanoha-verse character Harry met.
shadowchaos5150, while there is no real meaningful difference between a Mage and a Zauber, the latter being used in the text might have confused some people, so I decided to include this explanation at the end.
MattKennedy, well... No, those four remained in one piece, mostly. They did suffer concussions, broken bones including ribs, internal organ bruising and Magical burns that will leave big permanent scarring.
Darkscythe Drake, yes.
* AN: This chapter hasn't been beta-read.
Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Disclaimer: "Harry Potter" and "Mahou Shoujou Lyrical Nanoha" belong to their respective owners. No profit is being made. The same goes for any other media that might be used as the sources of ideas and inspiration.
"speaking"
"telepathy"
「Devices speaking」
'thinking'
"spells"
Additional Disclaimer: The authors of this story in no way approve murder as a solution to interpersonal conflicts.
Power of Eclipse
Chapter XIX: Time-Space Administration Bureau
"So, you say you're a carrier of the Eclipse Factor, Mister?" The doctor asked Harry once she finished talking to Enforcer Testarossa. She didn't look much older than the Enforcer herself and had shoulder-length blonde hair and purple eyes. Yet, despite her rather youthful looks, she had an aura of someone far older and wiser. "That would certainly explain the Anti-Magic Field emanating from you. Still, Eclipse hasn't been heard of for well over three centuries…"
"I don't know how the boy came to have it, but he definitely carries the Eclipse Factor." A large bluish-purple wolf-like creature with metal 'gauntlets' on its paws spoke from the corner of the room, startling Harry as he somehow failed to notice it until now.
"I still need to take a blood sample to properly confirm it, Zafira." The doctor replied while taking a syringe from one of the many drawers. "May I?" She then asked as she returned her attention to the young Eclipse Driver. Nodding rather absentmindedly, Harry offered his hand to the doctor as he eyed Zafira. He had heard that name before somewhere, though he couldn't recall where.
「Guardian Beast Zafira is one of the four Wolkenritter and is said to appear either as a dark-skinned white-haired man with animal ears or a large blue Belkan wolf.」 Zero supplied helpfully.
So… This wolf was Guardian Beast Zafira, Harry thought. That certainly explained how he managed to escape notice until he spoke: he was a powerful warrior with literally centuries of experience under his proverbial belt. Hiding his presence likely was a child's play for him.
Meanwhile, the doctor finished taking his blood sample and was now analyzing it with the help of some Magitech machine. The whole process actually took only a couple of minutes and while the machine couldn't recognize his Eclipse Factor for what it really was - apparently, TSAB medical databases had no data on Eclipse - it did show that there were markers corresponding to an unknown Magic system with inferred properties similar to those of the Eclipse Factor as it was described in the historical texts.
"Looks like you're telling us the truth about being an Eclipse Driver, Mister." The doctor said finally.
"Told you so, Shamal." Zafira barked rather smugly from his spot in the corner of the room. Harry, meanwhile, was surprised to hear another name from Belkan history.
"Uh… You're Shamal of the Wolkenritter?" He asked the doctor. If she indeed was, it would certainly explain the aura of age and wisdom she held. It would also make her the third person in this room who was stronger than him - not a comforting thought for the young Eclipse Driver.
"Yes." The blond doctor confirmed. "Have you heard of us?" While the names if not appearances of the Wolkenritter were widely known on the Administered Worlds, especially since many of those used to be Belkan colonies, being recognized by a person born on a faraway non-Administered World was a bit surprising.
"Zero told me about you." Harry replied.
"Zero?" Shamal asked then.
"My Strosek Reactor Plug." He explained.
"I'm afraid, I'm not familiar with that term." She said. Zafira and Enforcer Testarossa didn't know anything about Stroseks either.
"Zero said that you can think of her as an Eclipse version of a Unison Device." Harry clarified after a brief telepathic conversation with the Strosek in question. That certainly surprised the three adults in the room quite a bit: Unison Devices were rare. One could count known active Unison Devices on one hand. With fingers to spare.
"Can we meet her?" Shamal asked.
"Zero?" Harry asked his partner telepathically.
「This unit sees no problem with revealing itself.」 His Strosek replied through their link. Then, after a couple of seconds, she emerged into the real world, materializing a couple of feet to her Lord's left. Her appearance gave the adults in the room another shock. Not because of its suddenness - they had asked for it themselves, after all - but because of her looks. While her eyes were amber and not red, and her hair was wavy rather than straight, Zero looked startlingly like a slightly-younger version of Reinforce, the original one.
"You… You look a lot like her!" Shamal exclaimed.
"Her?" Harry asked, not quite sure why the adults were acting the way they did.
"Reinforce Eins, the spirit and the original Unison Device of the Tome of Night Sky." The blond doctor said. Then, lowering her voice, she added: "You might know her better as the Will of the Book of Darkness, though."
「According to the limited data this unit has on its creation, it was developed from the designs for an original Belkan Unison Device.」 Zero supplied.
"Remember that cyber attack on the Fourth Technical Division's servers back when Hayate-chan was working on Zwei?" Enforcer Testarossa said, addressing the two Wolkenritter. As the two nodded, she continued: "Back then investigators failed to trace the attack back to its source and couldn't conclusively determine what the purpose of the attack was… I think we now know what the hackers were after."
"If Zero is indeed based on Eins, that would certainly explain a few things." Shamal agreed. "Our little Rein would be happy to know that she has a sister." She added then before turning her attention back to Harry and his Strosek. "How did the two of you actually meet?" She asked them.
「This unit met its Lord after a ship transporting it crash-landed on his home World about six hundred and fifty cycles ago.」 Zero replied. There was a short pause as the adults processed this bit of information.
"Wasn't there an incident around that time where a cargo shuttle departing from Faurus went missing? I think the official investigation concluded that a reactor malfunction caused it to fall into the Imaginary Space when attempting to enter the Dimension Sea." Zafira said.
"You think that the shuttle in question somehow managed to return to the Real Space and ended up crash-landing on an Non-Administered World?" Enforcer Testarossa said. "I admit, the timeline matches well and it would also explain how someone who is, in their own words, an Eclipse version of a Belkan Unison Device ended up on a World that has never been a part or an associate of any Belkan state." She paused for a moment before asking Zero: "Were there any other crash survivors?"
「Negative.」
There was a rather long pause - almost a minute of silence - before the blond Enforcer spoke again:
"Back to our original purpose of coming here, Mr. Potter." She said. "We have now confirmed that you either carry the Eclipse Factor or have access to a previously-unknown Magic system with similar properties. I've forwarded these results as well as your request for help in managing the adverse effects of your Magic, as described by you, to the TSAB Main Offices. It might take the higher-ups a few days to come to a decision. In the meantime, you will be provided with accommodations at the Long Arch base." Pausing for a moment, Fate continued: "Since Zero is a person in the eyes of the law, normal procedures for handling visitors' devices do not apply to her. She will not be bound or taken away from you, but she must remain in her physical form at all times."
"That sounds reasonable." Harry said with a small nod. The Enforcer wasn't quite done yet, however:
"Long Arch is a military base so most of its facilities will be off-limits for you. Please respect these restrictions and follow orders from the base's staff." She said.
"Alright." The green-eyed youth agreed. "However, if this whole thing takes more than a couple of days, I'd like to be able to fight something - or someone - to help me control the Eclipse bloodlust." He really didn't like not being in control of himself and right now giving in to the bloodlust would be especially bad since he might end up attacking the very people he was begging for help.
"I'll see if that can be organized." Enforcer Testarossa said. After a brief pause she continued: "I think we're done here for now. Let's get you two settled, Zero, Mr. Potter." And so, after saying goodbye to the two Wolkenritter, they departed for the Long Arch.
The drive to the Long Arch base, which was located in the Southfort district A73 on the outskirts of Cranagan, took about forty five minutes. And Harry didn't even realize that they had arrived at first since it didn't look much like a military installation. If anything, he'd say it had the appearance of an office building or, perhaps, a research institute of some kind.
Then, as they entered the underground parking area, he saw a pair of large dark-brown cargo trucks bearing the insignia of the TSAB Ground Forces being unloaded by a handful of soldiers while another group was moving the equipment into the facility proper. So, yeah, Long Arch was indeed a military base. Or will be one in the very near future.
"Please wait here for a moment." Enforcer Testarossa said as she shut the engine down. She then got out of her car and walked up to the officer overseeing the cargo unloading - a bespectacled man with light-purple hair - with whom she exchanged a few words. The said officer nodded and, after summoning another soldier to take over his post, accompanied Fate back to her car. Deciding that this was his cue to move, Harry got out of the car with Zero following his example a second later.
"This is Warrant Officer Griffith Lowran." Fate introduced the man. "He's the executive officer of the Riot Force 6 and will be overseeing you for the duration of your stay at the Long Arch."
"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter,.. Ah… Ms. Zero." Griffith greeted them. "I've been briefed about your situation and hope that your stay here will be pleasant and without an incident. Please follow me, I'll show you your accommodations." Harry cast a glance at Enforcer Testarossa who gave him a nod, silently telling him to go with the man. And so he did, after bidding her farewell. Zero, of course, followed him.
After leaving the parking area, they proceeded onto the ground floor of the main building where the TSAB officer showed the locations of the mess, recreational area and, finally, the living quarters - pretty much the only places Harry and his Strosek would be allowed into at this time.
Quite surprisingly, the living quarters at Long Arch didn't resemble traditional barracks and instead were more like a dormitory with two, maybe three dozen two-person rooms. These rooms were surprisingly spacious and even had in-built washrooms. The showers were communal, though.
Normally, men and women would be housed separately, but Zero was a special case so she was allowed to share a room with her Lord - something that Harry quietly appreciated.
Not feeling like unpacking his belongings right now, the young Eclipse Driver asked his 'babysitter' to take him to the mess: he hadn't eaten anything in a while and was quite hungry. Of course, since it wasn't quite the dinner time yet, the mess wasn't serving any big meals yet. Still, they got a few sandwiches, which he eagerly accepted.
Harry was about to start his third sandwich when a young woman with short brown hair entered the mess hotfoot. She then saluted to her superior before handing over a small package. Thanking the girl, Griffith turned his attention to Harry and his Strosek.
"These are your pass cards, Mr. Potter, Ms. Zero." He said as he pulled a pair of plastic cards from the package and gave them to the Eclipse duo. "They will serve as your IDs here and will let you access the areas of the base you're permitted in. Please don't lose them."
「Thank you, officer Lowran.」 Zero said while Harry, whose mouth was full at the moment, only gave the man a nod of gratitude.
Now that those two had their pass cards, Griffith didn't need to escort them around anymore and so he took a bow and left the mess in order to carry out his other duties around the base. And, as the executive officer of the Riot Force 6, he certainly had quite a few…
Having had a bite, Harry mulled over what to do next. Still not feeling like unpacking his things, he decided to drop by the recreational area instead. Perhaps, something there would catch his interest. Unfortunately for him, the room was already occupied by a group of privates. And while there was plenty of space left, those soldiers were looking at him awry - probably because he was a civilian - which made him feel rather uncomfortable. So, quickly picking a few books that had interesting titles from the shelves, the young Eclipse Driver retreated to his room in the 'dormitories'.
One of those books turned out to be a trashy romance novel while the other two were so boring that Harry had lost all interest in them after just a handful of pages. The final one however was a decent historical fiction story set during the rise of the Belkan empires. And that was what he ended up reading throughout the evening. With a break for the dinner, of course.
~/ *** \~
The next day for Harry began at six in the morning with the sound of the reveille, which was played through the intercom system. And while he didn't have to perform physical training like the soldiers stationed at the base did, going back to sleep after such a wake-up call wasn't really an option. So, reluctantly getting out of the surprisingly-comfortable bed, the green-eyed Eclipse Driver began his day, torpidly going through his morning routines.
By the time he finally got to the mess, breakfast was already underway with a dozen or so soldiers enjoying their meal. And it was quite a good meal, he had to admit. Just like the dinner yesternight. TSAB certainly made sure to feed its agents well…
Picking one of the food trays, Harry pressed on to claim a table in the far corner of the mess. He picked that particular place in hopes that other people won't bother him too much there. Zero, of course, was by his side and kept him company here, at the mess, even though she didn't really need to eat herself.
Harry's little gambit of his paid off and it wasn't until he was nearly done with his meal when someone finally decided to approach 'his' table. This someone turned out to be a miniature girl - she was not quite a foot tall and was actually flying around instead of walking - with bluish-white hair and bright blue eyes. Still, she was wearing the Ground Forces uniform and was a member of the Long Arch crew.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter, Zero." She greeted them. "I'm Riot Force 6 Chief of Staff, Master Sergeant Reinforce Zwei of the Yagami family." She introduced herself then. "I wished to speak with you two. Do you mind?"
"Ah… Okay." Harry replied rather lamely as he still tried to reconcile with the fact that this tiny, fairy-like girl actually was an important SNCO at the Long Arch. And, if Shamal's theory was right, Zero's half-sister.
"First of all, I welcome you to Mid-Childa." Rein said.
"Thank you."
"Now, then." Zwei continued with her attention focused solely on the silver-haired Strosek. "I've heard from Shamal that you may trace your origins to Reinforce Eins. So, you're like my little sister?"
「That is possible.」 Zero replied.
"I have some free time this morning. Do you think you can hang out with me for a bit? I'd love to get to know you more." Rein asked then. Her Eclipse 'sister' glanced at Harry, silently asking him how she should respond.
"You can go if you want to." He said.
「This unit accepts your invitation.」 Zero finally said after being silent for a couple of seconds, causing Rein to raise an eyebrow at the strange way she referred to herself.
"Also." Zwei continued, now addressing Harry. "Shamal wanted to speak to you later today, Mr. Potter." She said. "Zafira will be there to pick you up at nine hundred hours."
"Do you know what this is all about?" He asked.
"I don't know the details, but apparently something interesting was found in your blood test results and Shamal wants to run different, more specialized, tests." Little Reinforce replied.
"O-Okay." Harry said.
Unlike Enforcer Testarossa, who drove around in her personal black convertible, Zafira used one of the Ground Forces' light utility vehicles. It wasn't as comfortable a ride as a private car, but it still got you where you wanted to go… And it was a good alternative to commuting half-across the city to the TSAB Headquarters via public transit.
And since he apparently had other duties to attend to today, the Guardian Beast only escorted Harry to the doors of Shamal's office at the Medical Department, leaving the Eclipse Driver to face the doctor by himself.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter." The blond woman greeted him as he stepped into her domain. Interestingly, the place looked slightly different from yesterday with a few things packed into boxes. It was almost like she was being reassigned somewhere else… Noticing his confusion, Shamal said: "I'll be joining the Riot Force 6 once they are officially established next week."
"I see…" Harry said. "You wanted to see me, doctor?" He asked then.
"Yes." She said with a nod. "Yesterday we ran tests to see whether you have the Eclipse Factor,which you apparently do, but when reviewing the results I also noticed that you also display markers normally associated with genetic memory. I would like - with your permission, of course - to run a new battery of tests to see if we can learn more about that."
"Genetic memory, you say?" Harry asked. "Zero thinks I have some. There were a few instances when I saw glimpses of 'myself' in battles I know I've never been in. These visions, when I do get them, always seem to be of the situations at least somewhat similar to those I face in reality." Shamal nodded thoughtfully.
"Yes, that sounds a lot like a case of your mind drawing upon genetic memory. Though, whether your experiences with it being limited to combat scenarios is merely the case of you being able to do that only under stress, such as while fighting a difficult fight, or a limitation on the genetic memory itself is something that needs to be determined." She said.
"Let's find out then." The Eclipse Driver said.
The tests Shamal had done this time extended beyond just taking and analyzing a blood sample. It actually went as far as a Functional Neuroimaging scan and Electroencephalography - or whatever their Magitech equivalents were. And those two had actually been done twice each: once while Harry wasn't doing anything special to get the baseline data, and once he was actively trying to access his genetic memories. He failed to do that, unfortunately. Perhaps, Shamal was right and he needed to be in dire straits for it to work?
Or… There might be more variables involved. After thinking about it some more, Harry realized that in all instances when he had the genetic memory visions, he was also Reacted with Zero. It could be her presence that actually allowed him to access those 'memories'.
Which was entirely possible, according to Shamal: since Zero was essentially an Eclipse equivalent of a Unison Device, she likely boosted more than just his mana and Anti-Magic Field while they were Reacted. It could be that boost he got from his Strosek that allowed him to access his genetic memory. Testing this theory would have to wait until sometime later, though…
Once the tests were done, Shamal began going over the results, starting with the genealogical DNA test performed on his blood sample. And its results were quite interesting.
"It looks like you are distantly related to the Jeremiahs, Mr. Potter." The blond doctor said. "We will need a comparison with an actual Jeremiah to determine the degree of separation more precisely but even now I can tell it is sufficiently large that under normal conditions you shouldn't be able to access genetic memory at all. The Eclipse Factor must have reactivated the relevant genes somehow to let you have it."
"I see…" Harry breathed out. Apparently, he was distantly related to the Nomad 'Kings' of Ancient Belka. And thanks to his Eclipse Factor could even use their bloodline power of genetic memory for combat experience. "How can that be, though?" He asked. "I'm pretty sure that my home planet isn't some sort of a lost Belkan colony."
"Well, you've met Zero somehow, right? And the ship that she was on had departed from Faurus which, while not in the core of the Administered Space, isn't on the frontier either." Shamal countered. "It is not impossible that a couple of centuries ago another ship managed to reach your World somehow, this one carrying a Jeremiah."
"I suppose it's possible." The Eclipse Driver agreed. He wasn't truly convinced that it was what really had happened, but there just wasn't a better explanation to this.
Aside from his relation to the Nomad 'Kings' of Ancient Belka, Harry's DNA test didn't show anything especially interesting. It actually surprised the young Potter a little that the test didn't reveal wizarding Magic in him, only showing that he could be a slightly-above average Belkan Mage. Or, maybe it did but Shamal failed to see that those genetic markers were not from the Eclipse Factor but from a separate Magic system? Either way, he decided against revealing himself as a wizard - doing that would make his already complicated situation even more annoying. And him being annoyed was never a good thing…
Likewise, the other tests didn't give any results that would be interesting to someone who wasn't a professional: for example, as interesting as scans of brain activity of someone with the Eclipse Factor might be to the researchers, they were just pretty images to people - like Harry himself - who knew nothing about how the data needs to be interpreted. Even Shamal herself, despite being a centuries-old being with extensive knowledge of medical techniques, wasn't qualified enough to analyze that on her own. Other specialists will be called in to make a proper analysis of the scans.
Once she was done going over the test results that didn't need further examination, Shamal asked Harry to wait for Zafira, who was supposed to take him back to the Long Arch base, in one of the Medical Department's lounges.
The young Eclipse Driver ended up waiting for nearly an hour: whatever business the Guardian Beast had at the TSAB HQ, it certainly took a lot of time…
It was almost dinner time when Harry returned to the Long Arch and finally reunited with Zero. It honestly surprised him how used to having her with him he has grown and how much he was affected by being separated from her even for a single day.
「Welcome back.」 His Strosek greeted him as he stepped into 'their' room in the dormitories. Greeting her back with a nod, Harry took a seat on the edge of his bed.
"Thank you." He said. There was a brief pause before he continued: "These extra tests doctor Shamal had me undergo were rather tiring, but… You know, you were actually right when you said I might have some form of a genetic memory." Perhaps, unsurprisingly, Zero didn't comment on that. "I'm, apparently, distantly related to the Jeremiahs, though we're not sure how at the moment."
「This is quite a revelation.」
"Yes, it is." Harry agreed. "And what about you? How was your day, Zero?" He asked her then. He was actually curious about how her meeting with the fairy-like Unison Device went.
「It was pleasant and surprisingly enlightening.」 Zero said. 「We appear to share a common origin and a number of our special techniques are quite similar. Reinforce Zwei was even able to give this unit a number of pointers to make our Reacting faster and more efficient.」 There was a small pause before she added: 「It would be… nice if I can have another visit with her sometime in the future.」 Harry nodded in response.
It didn't occur to him until hours later that this probably was the first time Zero used a pronoun when referring to herself.
~/ *** \~
The following day was rather slow for the young Eclipse Driver with barely anything of note happening. Indeed, the biggest event of the day might actually have been the arrival of the base commander and a pair of Forwards.
Harry was surprised by the fact the commander was a young woman barely out of her teens. He honestly expected Lt. Colonel Yagami to be older. And more imposing. Indeed, while she did have an incredible Magical power, she was a cheerful and kind young lady. Then again, Enforcer Testarossa didn't look threatening either, yet she still was one of the Bureau's elite agents…
As for the Forwards, both of them - a red-haired boy and a pink-haired girl with a cat-sized pet dragon - were actually a couple of years younger than the Eclipse Driver himself was. They also were, according to the rumors circulating among the Riot Force 6 personnel, adopted children of Enforcer Testarossa.
The day after, shortly after breakfast, Harry and Zero were summoned to one of the Long Arch's briefing rooms. Warrant Officer Lowran escorted them there since their pass-cards didn't give them access to this part of the base. In the briefing room, seated on the far side of a long table, was Enforcer Testarossa, though she was wearing a brown Ground Forces' uniform for whatever reason.
"Good morning, Mr. Potter, Zero." The blonde greeted them.
「Good morning.」 The silver-haired Strosek greeted her back while Harry merely gave her a polite bow.
"Please have a seat." The Enforcer said then, gesturing towards the seats across the table from her. Once the Eclipse duo was seated - Warrant Officer Lowran remained standing next to the door - she continued: "Mr. Potter, your request has been reviewed by the Time-Space Administration Bureau Main Offices and a decision has been reached. The Bureau will develop an agent to suppress the negative mental effects of the Eclipse Factor and will supply you with the product free of charge in return for your cooperation in the study of the Eclipse Factor and development of countermeasures and containment methods for it. Do you agree with these terms?"
Harry wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of giving someone more ways of beating him, but… He wasn't planning on being an enemy to the TSAB and he didn't want to be like a mad dog, attacking things left and right on the slightest provocation. So trading some of the mystery behind the Eclipse Factor's power for a chance at living a normal life wasn't a bad deal.
"It's alright, I guess." He said.
"What about you, Zero?" Enforcer Testarossa asked.
「This unit finds the terms acceptable.」 The Strosek replied after a quick telepathic conversation with her Lord. Nodding, the blonde Mage got two sets of documents from her bag.
"Then please sign these contracts." She said as she passed papers to the Eclipse duo. "Make sure to read them thoroughly. If there is something you don't understand, don't hesitate to ask me. I'll do my best to explain those terms to you."
Twenty or so minutes later, Harry finally put his last signature onto the contract. Zero didn't have nearly as much trouble with reading the Mid-Childan legalese and so has finished signing her contract some time ago.
"Thank you." Enforcer Testarossa said as she collected one set of the papers from him. The other was his copy. "Please make sure you keep these safe." She told him while putting 'her' copy of the contract into her bag. Upon his nod, she continued: "Before we say goodbye to each today, is there anything else you need, Mr. Potter, Zero?"
"Well…" The Eclipse Driver began. "Like I told you the last time, I need to be fighting something every now and then to keep my bloodlust under control. It's about time I need to do it again, so can you please organize something for me?" Nodding, the blond Enforcer glanced at Warrant Officer Lowran, who was still standing by the door.
"Please pass this request to Commander Yagami." She said to the purple-haired man.
"Yes, ma'am!"
That's all, folks!
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