Author's Note: Welcome back to the culmination of all one's wishes. The singular path that lies between many roads. Take heed, the contents throughout this tale is filled with strife and challenge. Can the Inheritor of the Moon hope to alter the course?
TheStrangerThatCameFromNowhere: Black Mask-kun! Oh noes!
ultima-owner: If anything, Hakuno is a fast learning.
EvanderAdvent: Perhaps we'll see the reaction in the future?
simple405: It was some good curry too, Hakuno enjoyed it.
achen5041: This is not CCC Hakuno. She does not have any memories of it.
Engineer4Ever: Without Morgana, Hakuno doesn't have any easy way to learn about the metaverse.
Daemon of Crawling Tentacles: I hoped it was FEMC, but just another Phantom Thief character. Still good, but I was hoping, ya know?
Roxas902: Thank you very much! I try my best!
kitburner: Yeah, but Hakuno has gone through these terrors before. It'll shake her, but it won't defeat her.
What lies in the body, the heart, and the soul? Are they but physical and metaphysical? The flame caused by her actions now seeks to devour her, but the road to her deletion is yet to be paved. Can this Digital Human change her path?
Digital/Culmination
Chapter 8: To Learn
Hakuno Kishinami's eyes opened to the familiar coloration of deep blues, the mysterious classroom that made the parallel Velvet Room. She sat upright, eyes trailing over piled desks and the decorative cyberspace flooring, ending at the denizen that appeared a bit more rested than their previous meeting. She noted a more lighted tint, subtle but there, reddish orange that shined ever so just a bit brighter from the windows. As if the flames that engulfed that city had grown slightly in intensity, approaching closer to the school that housed this classroom.
She turned her attention away from the vivid memory continuously playing outside, focusing on Igor who sat patiently.
He spoke, "It seems you have made a misstep in your education," Igor tapped his fingers against his desk. "As the principle of this Velvet Room, it is my duty to guide you should walk astray. But my advice is only noteworthy should you paid heed to it."
"This is about Wakasa," Hakuno said. "Did I kill him?" She questioned, dreading the answer.
This wasn't like the Moon Cell Holy Grail War, she had a choice to kill him. She hadn't stopped her Servant, even though she could have with a Command Spell, Hakuno Kishinami had hesitated. Sure, Wakasa wasn't necessarily a good character, but he wasn't evil or insane in the brief moments she interacted with him. He had appeared desperate about something, and Hakuno had been too careless to investigate more carefully, more mindful of her personal agenda than those around her.
In the Holy Grail War, Hakuno Kishinami hadnever enjoyed killing anyone. She hated it, despised the cruel reality. Every Master that had fought against Hakuno Kishinami was killed out of the necessity to survive, where any moral obligation was forced into the wayside by a kill-or-be-killed tournament. Sure, there were some Masters where Hakuno didn't feel as bad for killing, but those individuals were enveloped in madness or insanity in their very personalities, such as zealous religious fanatic or human cannibalistic obsession.
But Wakasa never had those traits, he went insane due to some external force, not by of his own decisions.
A Black Mask… There was something or someone responsible, and because of that, the murder of Wakasa weighed on her mind.
"An unfortunate consequence," Igor said. "Another life lost in the sea of souls."
Hakuno Kishinami nodded in silent acceptance, she had already known the answer in her heart.
Suddenly, a loud slam echoed, Hakuno nearly jumped in surprise as Caroline's ruler struck a nearby desk.
"It seems you require a thoroughly disciplined course!" She shouted. "A detention will be necessary."
Justine nodded in agreement, "We will impose stricter rules on you, student. As punishment, you will be unable to call forth Saber in the metaverse for a time."
Without Saber, Hakuno Kishinami had no means to defend herself, as such, unable to explore Mementos without great risk.
"You will still be able to visit your Servant like before," Justine continued. "But we will not leave you defenseless."
Igor spoke, "I have inscribed a summoning circle for you and the girls to use. With it, you will able to contract addition Heroic Spirits tied to the seven Paths."
"But due to your recent screwup," Caroline said in a harsh tone. "Justine and I will enforce limitations to keep your grades high. If you study hard and turn in your homework on time, we may feel you've progressed enough to lift these restrictions."
Hakuno Kishinami figured she would have to work with these, it doesn't seem like the resident of the Velvet Room disapproved of her exploring Mementos. Just the end result of Wakasa in particular.
"Understood," She said, resolved not to repeat the same mistake. "But, what is the metaverse?"
"It is a realm of cognition, tied to reality," Justine explained.
So, her theory was correct on that.
A cognitive world where people's mental states take form?
How strange, but considering she originated in a digital plane where the souls of mages used Spirit Hacking to enter its deeper layers, this wasn't to far from her knowledge.
"What are shadows?" Hakuno questioned.
Caroline answered, "They are personalities, the human psyche made manifest, hidden traits and characters that people refused to be let seen."
"The shadows you normally face diverge from the collective consciousness. They do not have impact on the real world unlike those belonging to specific individuals," Justine finished.
So, the shadows were divided into two categories, the ones she met while exploring were more akin to enemy programs while Wakasa's shadow was the mental state of him.
Alright, she understood that now.
The chime of a school bell rang.
Igor grinned, "I look forward to watching your growth, Inheritor."
Hakuno felt herself getting tired, she still had questions… But it seems she will have to wait.
The brown-haired magus girl stepped down the stairway into the base floor. She took immediate notice that her caretaker, Miss Yuyi, was currently in an emotional moment. Hakuno knew that it was likely related to Wakasa and decided to put down her school bag for a moment and comfort the elderly woman before heading off to Shujin Academy.
Hakuno sat across from her in the living room, "What's wrong?" She said.
"Dear…" Yuyi blew her nose on a tissue. "Wakasa had died. The young man that visited me and many other over so many months had passed away due to an incident."
She felt her heart wrench at the woman's feelings, "Do you know what happened…?"
"Oh, Hakuno, he was a victim in those string of accidents," Yuyi said. "Wakasa was a kind boy, recently he had been acting oddly, I should've noticed. He caught up in some bad people, he must have!" She said.
"What did Wakasa do for a job?" Hakuno inquired.
"He was an operator in managing tram traffic. He died during his shift by some mental shutdown, then suffered from a heart attack, they announced it on the news."
An operator for tram traffic? That explained why he always at the station. Also, a string of accidents? That implied that this had occurred multiple times already with other people.
So, Wakasa wasn't this Black Mask's first target.
"Will you be alright?" Hakuno asked in concern.
"Yes…" Yuyi wiped her tears. "I'll have to collaborate with others to set up a funeral. You should get to school, dear."
Hakuno nodded, trying to display sad emotion, but it wasn't easy. She felt bad for being partially responsible for Wakasa's demise, but it wasn't easy to express it with her limited understanding. A side-effect of her AI nature, but one that will improve with time spent with others.
It wasn't entirely like emotionless, she was still human, just didn't occur in those small moments.
"Alright, I'm sorry for your loss," Hakuno said as she picked back up her school bag and left the building.
She tried not to think about death.
Hakuno Kishinami sat down at her desk within the class, waiting for the homeroom teacher, Mr. Ushimaru to arrive and begin today's lessons. She zoned out the gossiping students around her, mostly the girls her age would talk about many random topics or rumors. The magus girl let loose a small smile at that, as it was identical to the preliminary rounds in the Moon Cell before she had known it was the Holy Grail War.
She placed aside her school bag, taking out the required materials and her pencil carrier. Her mind kept wandering, thinking back to the metaverse and the explanations given by the Velvet Room's residents. Wakasa had finally been pushed to the back of her thoughts, although it was terrible, the fact that she hadn't interacted with Wakasa much had been a deciding factor. It likely was a subconscious method to keep her from breaking down mentally.
Not that she would, Wakasa was another in a line of deaths by her hand, if in self-defense. She had been tempered by war, she had experience in moving on, it felt bad but it wouldn't hold her back. The important topic at hand was figuring out who or what the Black Mask is.
But she had no leads, she had briefly access the web with her Portable Terminal and looked into the string of incidents related to the trams. But there wasn't anything that would point to a potential clue, all she knew was that these were likely caused by actions done in the metaverse.
Hakuno felt like she could head to the Velvet Room after school to ask the twins more questions, but the magus girl felt like they wouldn't be able or would only reply a vague answer.
For this, Hakuno Kishinami was currently alone.
She frowned, it came back to exploring Mementos and detailing her clues together. But that would prove difficult without Saber, seems she will have to try summoning a Servant in the Velvet Room.
"I'll write down what I know so far…" The girl brought out her Portable Terminal and expanded her notes on what she had for information. It was starting to get a full-length page long now, perhaps it will be a book by the end?
It was a silly thought that made her smile in mild amusement before her emotions returned to a placid monotone.
"Alright! Settle down! Seats now!" The strict voice of Mr. Ushimaru shouted, the students scrambling to sit before they would face his discriminating chalk throw. He stood in front of the class, "Gym and practice is canceled today due to Mr. Kamoshida calling in absent. That's all, open your textbooks, page forty!"
In this class, no student dared begin chatting about rumors when their teacher was present. Hakuno Kishinami did notice that Ryuji, the boy who sat next to her, was on his phone.
He promptly got struck in the head by a flying chalk piece which bounced off him with nearly hit Hakuno if not for her timely dodge.
"Ow! What the hell!?" Ryuji shouted, rubbing his head.
"Pay attention, Sakamoto!" Mr. Ushimaru exclaimed, then turned to write down something on the chalkboard.
"Sheesh," Ryuji put away his phone, still rubbing his head.
"You alright?" Hakuno whispered.
"Huh?" Ryuji glanced at her. "Oh, yeah, don't worry about it. This happens with me from time to time."
She raised an eyebrow but didn't question it.
Besides, this was social science, her worst topic. It would be best to focus on the lecture today.
The bustling sound of the tram's wheels came to a stop, Hakuno Kishinami exited and entered the Yongen station. She was somewhat tired, not so physically, but rather mental exhaustion from the worries of yesterday, the questions that piled in her head, and also school. She hadn't decided to see Makoto today, instead deciding to head home after the day's end. The Digital Human adjusted her bag and walked forward down the escalator, stepping off she turned to head down the hall but was stopped by an individual.
"Pardon me," A familiar voice said.
It was Rani, the brown-skinned girl her age, long light purple hair trailed down in an odd pattern, Hakuno half expected to see her unique clothing, but was caught off-guard by the casual dress.
"Sorry," Hakuno replied, forcefully reminding herself that this could this world's counterpart of the homunculus.
Rani blinked, she shifted sideways a bit, then said, "You look familiar…?"
"You too…" The magus answered. "I'm Hakuno Kishinami."
"Rani Re-Atlasia," She bowed politely in greeting.
Hakuno vaguely recalled that her Rani, from the Moon Cell, didn't have any last name. But the name 'Re-Atlasia' sounded familiar, was it related to her professor in some way? Oh, wait, she can recall it now.
"Related to Sialim Eltnam Re-Atlasia?" Hakuno inquired.
A sudden beeping noise echoed from her Portable Terminal, Hakuno ignored it for now.
"Yes, she's my parent," Rani replied. "You know?"
The magus noted that Rani didn't say 'mother' just 'parent'.
"The Altas Institution?" Hakuno wanted to clarify.
Rani expressed mild confusion, before correcting her, "It's the Atlas Company."
Hakuno nodded, "I must have misread," She said. "Can I help you?"
"Don't know…" Rani seemed to examine Hakuno for a moment, then suddenly the girl reached into her own bag and pulled out something, it looked like a slip of paper. She handed it over, "You should come to visit. I'm interested in you."
"Okay…" Hakuno said, taking the slip, glancing at it briefly to see it being permission granted to visit a certain area within the Atlas Company. "Thank you," Hakuno said.
"Next Tuesday, be there?" Rani said.
"I will be there," Hakuno replied.
The purple-haired girl nodded, turned, and went to the escalator to leave by the tram.
Hakuno Kishinami smiled at the nostalgic conversation she just had, the personality of Rani VIII was exactly the same as this counterpart. The magus placed the gifted slip into her pocket, then reached for her Private Terminal to see what the notification was about.
"Huh?" Hakuno said.
There on the screen were the words…
Navigation Candidate Found: Sialim Eltnam Re-Atlasia.