Author's Note: Thanks everyone for the continued support! I'm glad that people are enjoying the story and the series!
Engineer4Ever: Inheritor, Hakuno is the Inheritor. It's a title I've been using throughout my Digital Human series.
Yasulong: Which is exactly the point of Hakuno's decision. The mental alteration goes against her morals, even if her actions are hypocritical from what she did in the Moon Cell, she would still strive to stay true to her morals.
PieKnight: You and many others! Slice of Life and Character Interactions are the best!
Jiongu-naruto: No Dio. As stated in a prior author's note, only Jotaro Part 4 will be the only Jojo Servant in this story.
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 12: Information Gathering
Hakuno Kishinami knew that finding information to her questions wasn't as easy as simply visiting the school library. In the Moon Cell Holy Grail, such knowledge was readily available, every subject imaginable was within its re-created library, even if the room couldn't possibly hold it, SERAPH just exchanged books depending on what a Master was searching for.
This wasn't the case in the real world, Hakuno had skills in information gathering, but the difficulty in obtaining it spiked. Of course, it wasn't easy in the Moon Cell, but there was no longer a singular place to obtain reference.
There were a few goals she needed to know.
One, Chiho Kata, the previous friend of Rani. Who, like apparently many before, mysteriously transferred away after becoming friends a month afterward.
Secondly, Mementos and the Velvet Room, which tied into each other. There wasn't anything to do on that angle except for exploring it in the old fashioned way.
Thirdly, the Phantom Thieves, a group of individuals with access to the cognitive world. They used it to commit dangerous mental alterations, like a type of brainwashing. This group might be harder to track down, as she didn't have any leads at the moment as to their identities.
Finally, the Black Mask, which she knew nothing about besides the fact they caused Wakasa to become insane.
Understandably, her first goal was to investigate Chiho, followed up by visits to Mementos, which might give her clues to the Phantasm Thieves and the Black Mask. She just needed to know how the metaverse's principles worked in regards to people's shadows.
So, Hakuno Kishinami sat in front of her tablet in the Private Room at home.
She set to work.
Out of the three separate identities of Chiho Kata that Hakuno found on social media, only one fit a close enough age to be a friend to Rani. However, the available details were limited, and her social presence had vanished completely after a certain date, likely due to her moving away.
It was like Chiho was cutting away all her ties.
Hakuno Kishinami tried the link phone number, but it was unavailable. She attempted other social websites tied to the account, but no further luck.
The magus has barely begun and already was hitting a roadblock. Chiho Kata had truly tried to erase her presence from previous contacts. To any other individual, it may as well have been impossible to find a lead, but Hakuno Kishinami was a hacker.
And a Spirit Hacker at that.
She was hesitant, it was clear that the Moon Cell was still active, it's looming observation obvious with the Private Room and Servant Summoning. If she were to accidentally connect to the worldwide network with the Moon Cell, the reality-warping device may completely overtake the entire network as it did in her world.
It was puzzling that it had not done so already.
So while she could use her Code Cast to hack into the deeper network, it had the risk of alerting the Moon Cell. It hadn't done anything in Mementos, however, but the real world could be different.
Speaking of Mementos, she could attempt to find Chiho Kata's cognitive counterpart through it, and ask directly instead. But, as with Wakasa, there were risks, however this time she was fully aware of what actions to take and what to avoid.
In the choice between the risks of Mementos and the Moon Cell, for Hakuno Kishinami, it was obvious.
Her hand reached for the Portable Terminal.
The vivid reds and blacks of Mementos unsettled Hakuno Kishinami, it had a similar coloration to blood and the symbolic hue of death. Still, she would press downward and explore this strange realm in the search for answers. The magus girl arrived in Mementos, she had to be cautious, as the only Ruler was available to call upon and he was a Servant that Hakuno hadn't known about.
Which means her orders will have to be more cautious until she learned Ruler's Skills and Noble Phantasm.
Though, at least she knows his True Name, not that she made the effort to search it up.
Probably for the best to do that later.
She hadn't called upon Ruler yet, there is little to no drain on her od from current 'active' Servants until they manifested. Without the support of the Moon Cell, Hakuno had to be even more concerned about her personal magical energy reserves, else her Heroic Spirits would spell her death from overconsumption.
Hakuno Kishinami walked down the non-functioning escalator to the first floor of Mementos, there was an artificial breeze that went back up, creating an unsettling feeling that Hakuno chose to ignore. This whole place was more unnerving than the Moon Cell's Arena, at least SERAPH had decorated its second floors with stunning visuals of an underwater sea, not the deep crimson tunnels of an underground subway system.
The Digital Human stepped down on the tracks, the area was quite huge, you could fit an entire automobile quite easily in these tunnels. Hakuno continued walking at a steady pace, mapping the region with her Portable Terminal as she did in the Holy Grail War's Arena. But, she didn't recognize the same turns, as if Mementos had shifted its complex. This made it more difficult for her to navigate, especially when she had to avoid the large roaming shadows.
Where was she going to find Chiho Kata's Shadow?
She placed a hand against the tunnel wall.
Her magic circuits ignited with channeling od alongside the memory flash of a city lit ablaze.
"Code Cast: View Status," Hakuno said.
Information filtered into her thoughts, it was basic and unspecific, and it didn't reach too far. But, its range of effect was sufficient enough to give her a hint towards her goal.
There was a way deeper into Mementos on this floor, Hakuno just had to head northward to find it on this floor.
As for the shadows, she could do something similar to what she'd done against enemy programs in the Arena. Code Cast: Hack, while it was meant to only briefly stun an opponent and prevent enemy Skills, it would be possible to use it to mimic another Code Cast called Release Magic C. Which was a more field-orientated Code Cast to briefly paralyze opponents outside of combat but would dissipate if the target was engaged. It was very specific, but Hack was generally the better option, not to mention, did slightly more damage and also cost less magical energy.
Hakuno Kishinami retracted her hand and let her magic circuits return to a resting state.
She didn't have access to Formal Wear or Mystic Codes, they were too expensive for her to obtain from the tablet in her Private Room. The magus will have to improvise with the Code Casts available.
Also… There wasn't any other way to defend herself, besides a Servant…
The brown-haired girl continued with a cautious pace, avoiding the wandering cognitive monsters with practiced skill. It wasn't too difficult, they paced around in a similar way to enemy programs, though their aggro ranges were more manageable, as the shadows didn't pursue you without a line of sight.
But…
Hakuno examined the gateway blocking her passage.
It looked like a solid structure, unlikely to be electronic, would her Code Cast work?
Hakuno leaped out of the way immediately!
A shadow collided with the gate in front of her, as if responding to brute force, it opened wide to reveal a different station and an escalator leading further down.
However, the shadow melted into a puddle than took the form of a large mythological Japanese demon, an oni, sitting upon an invisible seat. It's attention turned to Hakuno, ready to strike by some unknown means.
She wouldn't let have the chance.
Again, her magic circuits surged with magical energy.
"Ruler!" Hakuno called.
As if coming out of an astralized state, the Heroic Spirit materialized into the cognitive world with a combination of magical and digital effects, a callback to Moon Cell. His stepped forward, looking impassively, face obscured by his large-cap. Then, in a burst of speed, something seemed to come into reality behind him and struck forward with a fist so quickly it was almost a blur to Hakuno Kishinami's trained eye. The kinetic force sent the oni-inspired cognition towards the wall, impacting it with a harsh thud.
The magus examined the ghostly figure seemingly in her Servant's control, she didn't have any direct comparisons but it had a similar bulk to Rani's Lu Bu, if slightly smaller in size. Its skin had a blue hue, long black hair, and it wore golden armor and white scarf and cloth on its body.
Strange, but just another wonderous oddity when concerning Heroic Spirits, Ruler wasn't the first Servant to call forth a powerful entity to fight for him. Alice had summoned the Jabberwock with strength comparable to a Berserker.
"Attack, Ruler," Hakuno ordered.
In rather loud agreement, Ruler's summoned entity barrage the shadow with a fury of punches, repeating the same phrase "Ora!" a number of times. Didn't take long for their enemy to burst apart and vanish, leaving Hakuno and Ruler alone, whose latter's strange ally faded away back into the Servant's body.
She looked up to him, his large form made her already small stature feel a bit tinier.
"Thank you," Hakuno said gratefully, even if she knew that as her Servant, he was supposed to protect her.
"So, this is Mementos," He glanced around. "So, what is your goal right now?"
"Trying to find the shadow of Chiho Kata," She explained. "I need to learn more to find out why Rani's mother is considered a candidate for the metaverse application."
"And this application?" He asked.
"It brings me to the cognitive world, but I don't know much about it," She answered. "This is why I'm gathering information."
"Alright, got the gist of it, filled the rest with what the Moon Cell provided," He replied.
"What did it explain?" Hakuno asked.
"Only a summary what you know," He left it at that, taking a clear look around. "Next floor is down there, call me when you face danger." Ruler pointed at the escalator then went into the astral state, disappearing in a display of light blue magical energy.
He was very serious.
Hakuno compared him to Archer on that front.
Well, at least she wouldn't have to deal with the eccentric personalities of Saber or Caster… Though, she did miss the company… And Rin's company… and Rani's company…
The magus shook her head, she was here for Rani in the first place, sure it wasn't the same Rani, but the girl was still her friend.
She continued downward…
Hakuno Kishinami flumped onto the bedsheets of her room's mattress, exhaustion from exploring Mementos drained her body of stamina. She had only delved down four entire floors of the metaverse's strange realm and had discovered no entryway into Chiho Kata's shadow room. The problem was that she had no method of knowing where Chiho's shadow was and Code Cast: View Status barely provided information on a floor. Not to mention, the underground subway was enormous, it took her a long time to get around the third floor on foot.
It just wasn't very feasible to walk everywhere, and running would potentially attract every shadow monster around.
But, four floors down, was a record at least?
The second floor was an oddity, it wasn't like the first floor with its maze-like design, but rather like the entryway of a subway station waiting for passengers. A few trains were running, but were going to and fro too quickly for the magus to consider boarding. There had been a sealed door that prevented her from heading downward… But, after a moment of hesitation, Hakuno used Code Cast: Hack to bypass the restriction entirely.
She hoped there weren't any repercussions for hacking her way through the barrier, but there didn't feel anything wrong when the Code Cast finished.
But, her time was up, so Hakuno stopped and return to the real world by then.
Tomorrow, Hakuno would revisit her Servants in the Velvet Room, Saber must be getting antsy. There won't be any school for most of the week starting tomorrow, so there would be additional time in the day to investigate and gather information. Also, an additional Servant might be a good idea too, but she should at least understand who Ruler was first before summoning another Heroic Spirit.
There was also the deal with the twin teachers, she should work toward getting more 'confidants'. Though, that was something she had little experience in.
Hakuno's eyes stung, drowsiness was getting to her.
She sighed, reaching to the side and shutting off the lamplight on the desk, before pulling up the cover blanket and deciding to sleep. There would be the morning to continue her thoughts, for now, Hakuno fell into slumber.