I admit, I acted paranoid on the walk home. I couldn't… help it. Honestly, I couldn't! Knowing that Assassin, or Rider's assassins, or Archer could be watching me from anywhere, out of sight, had me on edge. As it should. Hell, I bet I'd given many people this exact feeling before, once they'd realized I was there the whole time… Really puts shit in perspective to be on both ends…
Even walking towards Glenwood Park I was still on edge. Not full out paranoid I was being watched; I'd come to accept that I most likely was, by at least someone. Now it was more so because I had to get to Caster. Which meant using the entrance to the labyrinth. The not-really-a-labyrinth-so-much-as-it-is-a-forge-type-thing labyrinth… Here was to hoping that whoever saw the entrance, which in all likelihood would be Rider's assassins, wouldn't go peeking in there themselves just yet. Or at all, provided this idea didn't work either.
…But it should. I mean, I wasn't certain by any means, but… this is god damn Daedalus we're talking about! If the greatest mind to ever live couldn't figure out how to convert leylines to being a direct power source for a reality marble, who could?! Shame I was going to lose a laptop in the process in all likelihood, but better Caster has an idea of what I'm talking about with a visual example to poke around with than just trying to explain with my words alone.
The labyrinth itself remained unchanged from what I saw, walking the corridor towards the workshop. Guess Caster still wasn't having any luck with things on his own… Right then, time to step up and support the team!
"Hey, you in here Caster" I shouted as I pushed open one of the doors to the workshop.
"Of course I'm in here, child" Caster growled from the opposite end of the workshop, hunched over a workbench. "Where else would I be! Don't just barge in here and start shouting like you own the place!"
"You're right, my bad" I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender.
…Not that he could see that with his back turned to me, mind you.
"…Any luck with the, uh… batteries?"
"…Depends…"
"…Depends on what?"
"Depends on what you need them for. If you need batteries that will hold a charge that will outlast your lifespan, then yes, I've had luck. Or how about batteries that can convert magical energy to electricity and such a stupidly efficient ratio that global power would become a non-issue overnight? Or batteries this small that have enough storage that they could power an entire city of this size on their own for a year without draining, provided they start at full capacity. Basically, anything you could think of, except for being able to transfer the stored energy to me so I can POWER THIS NOBLE PHANTASM!"
I ducked instinctively has he chucked something against the wall. Not that he actually threw it at me, mind you. Thank god for that… man may have had Ds across the board for physical parameters, but I reckon he'd still kill me without breaking a sweat if he actually wanted to.
At least the throw got him to turn around. Caster looked… drained would be the best way to put it, I guess. He was definitely one of the older looking servants I've seen, up there with Lancer and Rider, but… he looked worse than I'd remembered. Sustaining the labyrinth must have really started taxing him now.
Well… Sortiara did say that, at this point, he's basically gone beyond the miraculous. What else should you expect, dumbass?
…Fair point, me.
"…Why are you even here, child? I told you tomorrow would be when I needed a command spell, if at all."
"Well, you see, I was thinking-"
"First time for everything indeed, it seems…"
"And" I continued, ignoring Caster's comment with a grin on my face as I opened up my backpack, "I think we're maybe approaching this the wrong way."
"There's no we in this, child. And what do you mean when you say I've been going about this the wrong way?"
…Yeah… I was playing with fire for sure here…
"I mean, well, why are we trying to get a battery in the first place? If we think of this as a power system, the leylines are the energy source, the battery would be the energy storage device, you yourself would be the converter, or the upkeep payer, and the labyrinth would be the device needing power, right?"
"That would be correct, yes. What's your point here?"
"The system just… doesn't make sense" I continue to explain, pulling out my tools and beginning to open up my laptop on one of the benches.
"…What are you doing, child?"
"See, I'm thinking of this as an electrical circuit; like what you would see inside this computer here. But with a computer circuit system…" I begin to feel Caster's presence looming over me as I continue taking the laptop apart. "Well, the system doesn't need the role you're playing. So why are we trying to create a new system, instead of using a proven system?"
"That doesn't make sense, child; I have to pay the magical energy cost! It's my Noble Phantasm!"
"…Do you though? Or is it that you just think you do?"
"…What. Are. You. Implying?"
"Just look at this for a moment. You see how the electrical energy would run through the circuit, from the power source, to power the device?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then, using this system as a reference, the power source would be the leylines, and the circuit would be the labyrinth itself. Effectively, it just pays itself, drawing straight from the power source. Why do you need to be the middle man?"
"…Do you even know what a reality marble is, child?"
"Yes, I do, actually" I inform him without turning around to face him. "Just like you were busy last night, so was I. As I said, I've been thinking. Oh, also, before I forget, Saber is Liu Bei; figured that out last night as well. But that's besides the current point."
"Indeed… But your current point has a glairing issue: there are no leylines within a reality marble!"
"That's true. But! But… the labyrinth isn't a typical reality marble, is it? A typical reality marble doesn't just let people come and go freely; the labyrinth does. However, if it lets people and Heroic Spirits come and go freely, then the same should hold true for objects, no?"
Finally turning to face Caster, I swear I could literally see the gears in his head turning.
"Where is this going? I feel like I'm wasting time here with you…"
"Look, you can make batteries that far surpass anything we can produce in the modern day, and you've been working with that kind of knowledge for, what? A day or two? Now, looking at how this thing is powered, can't we just use the leylines as the power supply, and wire the labyrinth and the leylines together? That way, the magical energy from the leylines goes directly into the device known as the labyrinth, powering it. So long as the magical energy is coming from somewhere, it should be fine, no; it's only drawing the energy from you as a default?"
"…In other words, you're suggesting I… plug… the labyrinth into the leylines directly and have the magical energy of the leylines cover the upkeep in a direct fashion?"
"Yes! Basically that! Again, you've already made batteries that can store magical energy from the leylines. What I propose instead is that we run wires that can conduct magical energy from the leylines through the labyrinth to power it; effectively turn the walls of the labyrinth themselves into a giant circuit! It would… well, I see it as basically digitizing the labyrinth; turn it into a giant, magical computer!"
"…I see… Creating mana conductive wiring is well within my capabilities, naturally. I would need to spend a few hours poking around with some circuitry, but… yes, yes… with a bit of redesigning to the makeup of the labyrinth itself… No, there's still issues. Namely, how is this hidden? Wiring would have to come in and out through the entrance. That would leave the entrance open permanently. To say nothing of the fact you'd have to run wiring all across town back here; too easy to have some part of the system discovered and cut. Cut a system full of magical energy like that, and the consequences would be disastrous."
"...Since when do you know anything about how mana and magic and shit works? I know you're a Heroic Spirit, and a Caster, but… you're more of a scientist than a mage, relatively speaking."
"You dare question- …No, forget it… Child, if I said 'Medea', would you understand?"
"Medea? As in the 'witch that was betrayed by Jason' Medea? That Medea? How would- Wait, no… she would have been alive same time you were! Right; queen of Athens after Jason and all that, until Theseus returned from killing the Minotaur and she tried to kill him and all. I'm totally on her side when it comes to the Jason thing, but against Theseus? Yeah, she had that one coming; trying to put her own son on the throne was just way too greedy a play to make there..."
"…Indeed… Well, regardless, it seems as though you do understand, at least somewhat… I ran into her once, while we were both on the run, long story short. Gave me some very useful insights into magic in exchange for temporary shelter."
"That's… that's so cool!"
"Not at all how I would put it, but... point being yes, I do understand the basics of mana and magecraft, as well as how dangerous interrupting a system of that scale is! So how do we hide this thing? Or did you never think of that? Wouldn't surprise me if you didn't…"
"Well, what I was thinking is that, seeing as the walls of the labyrinth are serving as the circuit, we do what we have now with the current entrance; run a straight corridor from the workshop to where the leyline would be located above, and create a new entrance there. From that location, burry the wiring in the ground, but also through the entrance point. Even if it still forces the entrance to remain open, it keeps the wiring out of sight. As for other means of detection… I admit, that's on whatever you can come up with; presumably you make the wires with some kind of built-in defenses or something."
"Again, issues! Now the labyrinth is even greater in size, and we have a greater risk of it being found by the other masters! Especially if the entrances remain open, which, I will just say now, they will!"
"Ok, sure, it's greater in size, but more so than the combined energy of five leylines can cover? I doubt that the labyrinth you built is that inefficient! As for it being found… don't we want that though? To trap people in here?"
"Trap them with what, child? A straight walk to the workshop?"
"No, obviously not! But, and I admit I'm assuming here, I would imagine that the energy from five leylines would be enough to run the corridors to them, and to also make a proper labyrinth; not of the entire city in scale, mind you, but at least the area of Glenwood Park. Maybe a few levels to it as well? That should be more than enough for a labyrinth for this war. I've met most of the servants now, and none of them are explorers or dungeon crawlers or whatever; that size alone should be more than enough to trap them. The straight corridors are literally just circuitry for this, and work as easy bait as a bonus; this whole area though should have enough energy to be converted to a big deathtrap."
"…"
"…"
"…Assuming everything you just said works, one issue remains: you can't just attach wires to a leyline!"
"But we don't need to."
"And why don't we, child?!"
"Because you made the middleman we would need already" I said, pointing towards his other workbenches. "The batteries absorb the mana from the area around the leyline. Just attach those batteries to the wiring, and we have the circuit, no?"
The workshop remained quite for quite some time. Caster just stood there, mind racing, lost in countless thoughts, I'm sure.
Finally, Caster started laughing. It sounded deranged; filled with maniacal energy. The laughter of a genius, and a madman.
"I admit it, child" he continued laughing as he spoke. "This idea of yours may have some merit to it! It will require some modification on my part to make it truly worthwhile in pursuing, but…"
Caster paused for a moment, an ever so slight grin forming on his face.
"There may be some hidden promise in you yet…"
Author's Notes (BIG Plan Update)
Man, hard to believe this post will mark the two month point of this (or just about round there anyways)! Happy to see people are still interested, even with the story being as drip-feed as it is (figured keeping myself to short, consistent post schedule would actually keep me posting, rather than abandoning this project, when I first started it).
That said, I've been doing some thinking, and I have a bit of an...update, I guess xD
Some time this coming week (at least by July 3rd, next Sat) I plan on posting the first bit of a side thing. Mainly, I'm using it as practice, both for writing in 3rd person perspective (I've always worked in 1st person for everything I've done; this story here and the ones I've kept private) as well as writing for already established characters (something I've always avoided, as this story can also attest to).
As for what anime/game/whatever I'm going to be using... well, it's not more FATE; only saying that much for now. That's because right when this work here is done, I DO plan on starting that mega project thing for FATE that I mentioned I wanted to do earlier. The more I think on that idea, the more fun it continues to sound (and the more matchups/rivalries/dynamics I keep cooking up in my head). However, with FATE being as big as it is and having used major figures I'd want to use myself (including big fan favorites *cough, cough* Iskandar *cough, cough* for example), I want to try and get some practice in, let's say, on writing for existing characters before I start this mega work. That said...
NOTHING ABOUT THE SCHEDUELING FOR THIS WORK'S POSTS WILL CHANGE!
I will still be making a post for this work every 2-3 days. If anything, it's that other work which may end up going for 2-4 weeks without an update, if not even longer once I'm back in school come September. I will say again that this upcoming second work is being used as practice for *mainly* two things (3rd person and established characters); it is not the first priority (and probably never will be the first priority...), and it will most likely be even rougher than this work here.
Come it's first post, if anyone would be willing to tag along for that journey and provide tips/assistance/criticism, I would greatly appreciate it, same as I do for this work here. I don't know if there will be any interest from this work's current readers, considering it will be on another IP and all, but considering the timing of everything (it's release being very soon and this being the 2 month anniversary of this work) I figured I'd make the update post about it all now.
As always, my thanks to all the readers who have made it to this point!