Chapter 6: If at any Point, You get Lost, Use Your Communicator to Display the Map of the Facility
Chaldea, Antarctica
Nadja pointed to a part on the diagram for Boris to see. "This is where the nuclear energy generated heat boils the water and converts it to steam. When the bomb exploded, this closed loop ruptured, and all the water exploded out."
Boris gulped, looking down at his feet. "So, the radioactive water here…"
Nadja absently nodded. "The water went down there. Which is why we are all wearing these full body suits." She waved along the yellow, heavy suits that the three of them were wearing.
Boris stammered "So, we are wearing radioactive proof suits so we don't die?"
"Oh," Nadja waved it away. "The radiation won't kill you."
Boris sighed in relief before Nadja continued. "It is the damage to the genetics that will cause you to suffer from cancer and other ailments. But that would take a while and I've already cleaned up the water and put in containment. What we need to do now is check for excessive damage to the pipes and fix any holes that may have been, which is what Shirou is doing. His magecraft is suited to finding those holes and damages. You will be removing those damaged pipes and replacing them while I find the next things that we need to fix." She waved around the diagram in her hand.
Shirou continued listening while using Structural Analysis on the next section of pipe. It felt sort of weird to use Structural Analysis in front of others but unlike in high school, everyone here already knew about magecraft.
As Shirou continued listening, he went over what he knew about his current two coworkers. Nadja had survived the explosion by virtue of falling asleep in a chair at a breakroom while getting ready for the Rayshift. She had been so excited over the Rayshift that she had neglected to sleep the day before, which inadvertently had saved her life as most of the other researchers had been watching in the command room when the bombs went off. Or had it been intentional for her to fall asleep and miss the explosion?
Nadja was a member from a new Magus family that focused on radioactivity. She knew all the science and magecraft that related to a nuclear reactor. She was, however, a researcher more focused on analyzing radioactive materials and particles such as the Spiritrons than an engineer. She knew nothing about how the machinery worked or even knew how to read the diagram she was holding. She, like the rest of Chaldea, had to learn on the spot how to read diagrams, find damages, and repair machines. But she was trained in how to operate the reactor safely and knew the theory, which made her better suited to fixing the reactor than everyone else. Well, other than Leonardo. But the Heroic Spirit was busy fixing other things so Nadja was here.
Sensing a dent, Shirou waved over to Boris and Nadja. "Here, this pipe needs to be replaced. It has a dent from metal ricochet." He called out, marking the segment with his black marker.
Boris gulped. The janitor took a glance at the manual he was reading before approaching the pipes with all the caution of a man having to approach a poisonous viper.
Shirou almost snorted as he moved on the next pipe. The area wasn't dangerous now, especially with them wearing thick suits to protect against irradiation. But Boris was just a normal janitor and knew almost nothing about the machinery, science, magecraft, or even the research being done here. But he could read the manuals for the machinery and he was here, which was enough in Chaldea's sudden manpower shortage.
Nadja examined the diagram on which she had overwritten some descriptions in one corner. It had taken her some time to learn how to read the diagrams and she could safely say that she still had trouble remembering what icon meant what. So, she followed Dr. Roman's advice to the all the survivors in working with a manual open or with a cheat sheet.
"Okay, so we are working on the closed steam system and the coolant for the reactor is still good along with the fuel and the reactor core, so the next part would be ... Ah. Need to make sure that there is no containment breach for either the inner or outer containment chambers. Which means…" Nadja trailed off as she mumbled to herself and moved both hands along her chart and diagram.
"Hey Shirou! After you finish up the pipes, would you mind checking the outermost layer of the core?" the German magus called out.
Shirou raised his eyebrows. "Wouldn't that be the first order of business? Most people prefer not to have a radioactive plant leaking in the vicinity."
Nadja laughed a little awkwardly as she scratched her arm. "Well, the Geiger counter said that the radiation was high all over the room, so I figured that we should deal with the escaped radioactive water first…" She trailed off embarrassedly.
Shirou shook his head. He could follow her thoughts. She had thought that the water needed to be taken care of first, so she had. Then she went to make sure that more radioactive water wouldn't come out from the hole and become a recurring problem.
Well, Shirou didn't know the safety procedures for repairing a nuclear reactor either so she was good on that regard.
His wrist communicator beeped once before opening a blue hologram of Dr. Roman. The refreshed doctor waved cheerfully.
"Hey Shirou! Do you mind coming up to the Control Room? TRISMEGISTUS indicates that Mash and Ritsuka are on top of the Leyline Terminal and should be activating communications with us at any moment."
Shirou nodded to the hologram and took his hands off of the pipes. The last segment was still fine anyways. "All right, I'll be up there in a few minutes."
"Thanks Shirou. With everything the way it is, they'll probably appreciate having a guide." Dr. Roman said gratefully. "See you soon!"
The hologram shut itself off.
Shirou took out the black sharpie that he had hanging off of his belt before marking the pipe he was working on. When he came back, he wanted to be able to continue where he had left off without missing a piece or rechecking a segment he had already checked. All the employees of Chaldea were pressed for time as it was.
"What?" Nadja complained. "But we still need to check for containment! It will take even longer for us to get the reactor up again without help."
"I know," Shirou replied. "But if the last Master dies in Fuyuki, humanity will die as we don't have anyone able to stop the Singularity. I'll be back down here later, after helping Fujimaru and Mash."
"All right," Nadja subsided with a pout. "Just hurry back down here. I can't analyze as fast as you can and I want to get this done with as soon as possible."
"Okay," Shirou replied as he took a step away from the pipe. "Oh, and before I forget, this pipe with the mark is good too. No need to worry about any of the pipes besides the ones I pointed out, on that side of the mark."
"…Thanks," Boris sort-of half grumbled and half-mumbled as he unscrewed a segment of pipe that needed to be replaced. He didn't seem to like Shirou. Possibly believed the rumors that Shirou was the one to plant the bombs that so recently wiped out most of Chaldea.
Shirou nodded in acknowledgement before leaving through the three-person wide door. Boris was a nice guy. He still was polite even in his distrust towards Shirou. Sort-of refreshing compared to the last time he had hunted down a Sealing Designate that didn't want to come quietly. On that occasion, both his fellow Enforcers and the Sealing Designate had been the type to spit in a person's eye just because they had a bad day.
As Shirou approached the Central Control Room, he heard the pounding of feet on the ground. Muscles tensing, Shirou slid to a more combat ready stance. Opening his Magic Circuits, Shirou prepared a few swords in his Reality Marble to project at a moment's notice.
Shirou had been expecting an attack. When he had woken up in the infirmary this morning, he had realized that he was one of the few remaining technical experts here at Chaldea. Whoever had sabotaged Chaldea had specifically gone after the powerplants, the engineers, and the technicians despite killing almost the entire leadership at the Control Room. Therefore, one of the saboteur's objectives had to have included the technical workers as an obstacle. Or at least, Shirou amended his thought, they needed the power to stay off for a time.
If the power coming back on soon was such a danger to the saboteur's plans, then they would try to kill whoever could speed up the power getting back on. Which meant that he, Nadja, and Boris were in danger of assassination.
Shirou tried to make it easy on them by using himself as bait. Now it was about to pay off. As the sound of footsteps echoed around the turn in the corridor, Shirou tensed and brought his hands to position.
A long orange haired man in a white coat barreled around the corridor, nearly colliding with Shirou, who managed to halt himself from decapitating the man, before the man whirled around him while still trying to run as fast as he could.
"Sorry about that!" Dr. Roman yelled over his shoulder without stopping.
Shirou blinked. He hadn't expected that. Guess it was just a false alarm. Feeling a little silly, Shirou brought his hands down from where they ready to grab the almost traced copies of Kanshou and Bakuya,
He shrugged. Nothing to it other than to continue on his way. As Shirou continued towards the Control Room, he was mindful of traps. He was still expecting an attack and he couldn't rule Dr. Roman out as a culprit yet.
After all, just because Dr. Roman hadn't attacked him here, didn't mean that he might decide to shoot him in the back if Dr. Roman happened to be the saboteur. Or there could be someone around the corner ready to strike.
Unfortunately for Shirou's paranoia, there wasn't anyone there. It would be relieving to have this cloak and dagger stuff dealt with and over soon. He wondered how Saber would deal with this. He grinned. Besides telling him to deal with the natural enemy of her stomach while she waited of course.
As Shirou stepped through the door of the Central Control Room, he noticed that the center spot where the Director of Chaldea usually worked was occupied by a chair with a pair of functioning holographic screens open. Around the central spot, there were a few Chaldean Employees still trying to get the other monitors and sensors working so that Chaldea could use their great tools like SHEBA, LAPLACE, and TRISMEGISTUS working properly again.
One of the two screens had an image of a white-haired European aristocrat's face open on it while the other displayed what information they could get from the low power mode that TRISMEGISTUS was operating in. Somehow the Director of Chaldea, Olga Marie Animusphere, had managed to end up in Fuyuki of 2004.
As Shirou approached the chair, he listened to Animusphere's remarks to whoever was with her but was not visible from the screen.
"… if only Lev were here!"
"Unfortunately," Shirou said dryly. "Most of Chaldea's leadership was here in this room when they died in the explosion. Which implies that I am likely standing over where some of his blood likely landed, so in the unlikely event that you accept his bodily remains as 'him being here', he is actually still here."
Director Animusphere turned and glared at Shirou.
Shirou instantly felt contrite.
The Director had a temper and made sure that everyone knew it. She acted on it and even fired an occasional person because of it.
But at the end of the day, she was an effective boss. Chaldea had its funding, eyes were kept on CHALDEA for any possible threat to humanity, people got paid, and experiments were done. That was the hallmark of at least an adequate boss. Shirou just knew that he was glad he didn't have to do her job. He would probably end up spending most of his time in the kitchen just to deal with all the stress. Rin had often complained to him of having to deal with the Lords of the Clock Tower despite not even interacting with one of them on even a weekly basis.
Regardless of how hard her job might be, Shirou still wished that she wasn't glaring at him right now. Even if his joke went splat. Badly.
"And why is there a mere technician sitting in that chair?" Animusphere asked as icily as the blizzard coated realm outside Chaldea. Which might be where he would be assigned to next if he didn't give her an answer soon.
And that blizzard was really cold. He had had to chip ice off before so that aircraft could land. The winds and snow just blew right through any protection you wore.
"I figured that since the internet with its assorted maps is down along with poor communication with Chaldea's databases, you might appreciate having a person who grew up in Fuyuki give you directions, guidance, and help in regards to the layout of Fuyuki." Shirou answered.
As the gaze grew less icy and more fiery, Shirou could almost feel those freezing winds biting through the thick layers he might soon be wearing.
"And why is this only being brought up now?" Animupshere asked.
Shirou blinked. Oh. So that is why they never asked him to help in regards to Fuyuki. They had forgotten to check their employee's backgrounds.
It was on his resume, the resume he kept for magecraft related jobs, for crying out loud! It even said that he had participated in the 5th Holy Grail War and his home address was still in Fuyuki but in the rush to save humanity and to prepare adequately, it probably had just slipped everyone's minds to check their employee's backgrounds.
Shirou grimaced. And he had assumed that bringing it up with his boss would eventually make it up the line of command. But he had forgotten that his boss was a magus that had grown up in America, where people were blunter and less subtle. The poor guy probably hadn't understood that Shirou wanted the Director to know that Shirou had some experience with the field. And why didn't Lev Lainur bring it up anyways? Professor Lainur was a friend to Director Animusphere and he had known that Shirou was from Fuyuki. Maybe it just slipped his mind?
Anyways, Shirou had to answer the Director's question. "It was on my resume. I figured that that was part of Chaldea's database so anyone looking through it would have quickly found it out. Also, I told my boss Terrell that I was from Fuyuki. I had hoped that it would have made it up the line of command."
"Stupid Drake," Director Animusphere muttered. Drake had been the head of the Human Resources Department before she died. "Why didn't you tell me that we had a local on staff?" She looked up at Shirou. "You there! Were you in Fuyuki during 2004? Do you know what is going on here?"
"Yes." Shirou nodded somberly. "You are looking at the 5th Holy Grail War, so be careful. Especially as it looks like you are facing the consequences of someone making a wish on the Holy Grail before it was destroyed."
Director Animusphere's eyes snapped to him. "Explain yourself," she commanded. "What do you mean that the Holy Grail was destroyed?"
Shirou winced. He would have to explain the circumstances of the war all over again. And the director preferred a more military style with brief explanations. So summarize. And quickly! He added as her glare grew more intense.
"Yes ma'am! In the course of the 3rd Holy Grail War, a defeated Avenger Servant managed to corrupt the Holy Grail, turning it into a monkey's paw that would achieve any wishes made on it by the route of maximum destruction. When this was revealed to me and Saber," Leave Rin out of the explanation, if it got out that she was part of the decision to destroy the Holy Grail, she would face charges and interrupt her work and standing at the Clock Tower. Which is why she forbade me to mention that I destroyed the Holy Grail to any member of the Clock Tower. Good thing Chaldea is independent. "we decided that we would rather destroy the Holy Grail than get our wish in such a way that would destroy the city again. As such, I used my last Command Seal to order Saber to destroy the Holy Grail before any wish was made on it."
"I see." Director Animusphere mused. "So, there shouldn't be any Servants here anymore. Well that's a relief. Did Fuyuki have a skeleton problem or was there a magus that specialized in necromancy?"
Shirou blinked. "No… but Caster did have an army of Dragon Tooth Warriors that she liked to use."
"Dragon Tooth Warriors?" Director Animusphere frowned even as Mash Kyrielight and Ritsuka Fujimaru wandered into the background to sit on some rubble during the video call. The summoning chamber was able to be projected across a Rayshift in order to let Chaldea summon materials from a Rayshift into Chaldea and vice-versa so anything inside the virtual projection also existed in Chaldea. But it took an enormous amount of energy to transfer the contents of the room across, energy that was not available at the moment, not to mention the damage done to the Rayshift System. Fortunately, the room was rather large so the two had a selection of rubble to use as their seats. "But you said that this would be after the Holy Grail War!"
"Um," Ritsuka Fujimaru spoke up, raising his hand before flinching back as the Director shot a glare at him. "I'm just wondering but, what is a Dragon Tooth Warrior?"
Shirou inclined his head, searching his memory for when Caster had attacked his home and answered. "A Dragon Tooth Warrior looks like a skeleton. It wields weapons like these-" He projected copies of a Dragon Tooth Warrior's sword, axe, spear and bow briefly, making sure that they were fully visible in the camera view on Chaldea's side. "and instead of a skull, they just have a jaw full of fangs on top of their head."
"That isn't what we've seen so far, Director," Mash said. "All the skeletons so far have had skulls."
"Right," the Director sighed. "You don't know anything about the skeleton foes. How useless. Anyway, what can you tell us that might actually be relevant?"
Shirou took the insult and ignored it. "Since a Singularity has history derailed from the proper course, the Holy Grail could have manifested at any one of the four locations." He recalled from his conversations with Rin about the history of the Holy Grail Wars. "The one I saw was at Ryuudou Temple but it could also manifest at the Tohsaka manor, the Fuyuki Church or in Fuyuki Central Park. Based on the map here, you are currently standing over the Tohsaka manor."
"This is the Tohsaka's house?" the three on the other side of the screen looked around, trying to see any trace of the house while standing in the transparent projection of the summoning experiment chamber. Shirou looked at the background and frowned. There didn't appear to be anything still standing, not even a wall or a floor that might indicate that this used to be Rin's home. Director Animusphere turned back to him with a raised eyebrow, indicating her disbelief. "Clearly not."
What was going on? This was Fuyuki but why were they at the Tohsaka manor but the manor is not even intact enough to be rubble?
Shirou abruptly remembered some of the theory he had had to learn in order to work here. Singularities were "stains" on human history. They were more similar to what-ifs than anything else. What if Tohsaka's manor had been destroyed and Rin killed before he was stabbed by Lancer? What if Japan had won World War II? The aberration against history needed to be corrected so that humanity could survive.
"I would guess that the Singularity had some Servants fight there as everything is rubble. Except I don't recall anyone ever fighting there. All the fights took place at Ryuudou Temple, my home, the Eiznbern castle, the forest around the castle, Homurahara Academy, the Church, and a skyscraper and some streets in Shinto on the other side of the river. Despite Archer and Rin being there, no one attacked ever them in their home." Shirou replied to their disbelief.
Animusphere sighed again in frustration, "Great, just great! Even the guide is useless! No one is here, history is changed, we just missed the Holy Grail War that might have caused this destruction and probably is the source for the Singularity, skeletons are running around despite there being no one who could have made them, everything is either rubble or on fire, and we have no idea what caused the light of CHALDEA to go out!" She panted in anger from her tirade before whirling on Shirou. "Is my Chaldea at least fixed yet?"
"I was in the Central Powerplant, helping to put the nuclear reactor back online," Shirou said steadily, all the while meeting the orange eyes of the Director. "Everyone here is working hard at repairs despite almost all of our engineers dying in the explosion."
"Good," Director Animusphere nodded. "At least some of you are working hard."
The door slid open and Dr. Roman rushed through. He bent over, hands clutching his knees as he panted for breath.
"Don't speak of the devil and he will still appear," Animusphere muttered under her breath.
Shirou didn't have anything to say to that. Dr. Roman was a very laid-back guy. Pleasant to be around during a break but he wasn't nearly as bad as the Director said.
Catching his breath, the doctor straightened up and walked over. "So, what did I miss?"
"Dr. Roman," Director Animusphere began. "As you are the only high-ranked member still on site, you will give me a report on the condition of Chaldea. What of the Master Candidates?"
"As pertaining to your instructions, all 46 injured Master Candidates have been put into cryopreservation with the only exceptions being Mash Kyrielight and Ritsuka Fujimaru, whose bodies are still in the Rayshift Chamber. Both are stable and should be able to receive their spirits back after the Rayshift is finished and the retrieval process complete. As for the rest of the state of Chaldea, …"
Shirou Emiya shrugged as Director Animusphere continued to listen to Dr. Roman's report on the condition of Chaldea with the occasional question for clarification. He wasn't needed for this part and frankly, he didn't want to listen to how bad the damage was and what was being done. He couldn't help or save anyone by listening in.
He decided to follow his natural inclination and joined the workers in getting the Central Control Room back into serviceable condition.
Fuyuki, 2004, Singularity F
"Roger that. Best of luck to you, Director. We can now communicate in short bursts. Feel free to contact me in an emergency." Roman acknowledged the recent instructions that she had just given.
Olga Marie Animusphere scoffed at Roman's words. Couldn't the lackadaisical fool see that there would be no point in contacting him in an emergency? "Even if we sent an SOS, nobody would come to our rescue." She pointed out.
The image of the head of the medical division seemed to waver at her words. Ugh, even with the Leyline stabilizing her side, the damages to Chaldea were still apparent. But she needed to get some more information. If this was the aftermath of a Grail War, even one that didn't correspond to history, there would still be some points that should bear investigation. That lowly technician, whose name she couldn't remember at the moment, should at least know those points.
"Anyways, put the local back on and return to your job. I need to know of any places to avoid if we are to discover the source of this Singularity," Olga commanded Roman.
"At once, Director," Roman bowed the head in a brief nod before turning to the red and white haired man who had moved off-screen. "Hey Shirou, Director Animusphere wants to talk to you."
"Alright, I'll be up there in a second." The acknowledgement came floating back from wherever he was. Olga scowled. In a second! Her and her team's time was valuable! He should have waited nearby so that she could more quickly get his information from him.
A few seconds passed as she tapped her foot irritably. Ever since she had woken up after that explosion, something had felt wrong and she didn't know what, but it was bugging her. She knew the value of patience from dealing with the UN and the Lords of the Clock Tower but she shouldn't have to need it here in her own domain.
The technician replaced Romani Archaman in the screen.
"Finally!" She exclaimed. "Now before we cut the transmission, I need to know of the locations of the local magi, their workshops if you know of any, any Leyline Terminals, anything that might cause things like this like a laboratory, or a place that is dangerous and why. Such as a mountain that might still have landmines on it or quicksand." She recalled a hike that her father had taken her on once. They were going to a Leyline Terminal in their land's territory and it happened to pass by an abandoned military base with signs warning people not to get off the paths due to old landmines haven't being dug up after the war. It was quite useful for hiding the workshop there from prying eyes.
"Hmm," the man replied, scratching the back of his head. "Well, there is a JSDF base quite a distance away, but it isn't in Fuyuki itself. The four locations I mentioned earlier, the Church, the Fuyuki Central Park, Ryuudou Temple, and where you are happen to be at, are the major Leyline Terminals. I think my old home might be on a small Leyline Terminal. The Matou home is just down the hill from where you are at but that is easily the most dangerous place in the entire city."
The man shivered and added "Don't go there if you can help it. Especially as both you and Mash are females. You do not cross Zouken Matou without being ready to die."
Olga Marie swallowed. She had heard of the withered, five-century-old mage. He was ancient, powerful, and dangerous, even by magus standards. Not quite at the level of a Dead Apostle but more than a few of the people who had taken apart the Fuyuki Holy Grail had stated over their beverages that they would rather fight a Dead Apostle than face Zouken Matou again. His magecraft was a thing better suited for horror stories than study.
"As for any other magus - oh!" Shirou snapped his fingers. "The Fuyuki Church probably would have something related to the disaster. Kirei Kotomine was trained as a magus by Tohsaka's father and he wanted to cause as much misery and suffering as he could. If this is after a Holy Grail War, then it should be safe. He had two Servants there, but Gilgamesh and Lancer should be dead by now. And if not, then be respectful. Very respectful. Like you are talking to the Queen of the Clock Tower. Anything less will offend him, and he will kill you."
"It also isn't that far from Central Park so you might want to head there first. Um, hmm. I would tell you that you can recognize Central Park by it being the park that is abandoned and dying but-" The crackling fires and rubble still visible through the translucence of the summoning chamber all around her told her why that wasn't useful as directions. "Uh, just be careful of the place that feels badly cursed. That's Central Park."
Olga raised an eyebrow. What had the Tohsaka been doing if a heavily cursed area was used as a public park of all things. That was neglectful of their position as Second Owners. "Noted," she said dryly. "Now how would we get there?"
Shirou hesitated. "Well, first off, there is one more area, the forest south of Homurahara Academy and Ryuudou Temple has a Leyline. That's where the Eiznbern castle is. It probably is empty though. The Eiznbern only use it during a Holy Grail War."
"As for the Shinto areas such as the –" Romani appeared in the image feed, leaning over a corner of the screen before a map suddenly popped in the viewscreen while the video image of Shirou and Dr. Roman shrunk. "Oh, thank you Dr. Roman. The park is in the dense part of Shinto on the other side of the river." A blue beacon popped up on the map on the other side of the river. "For that, you just need to find the bridge and continue straight. That will put you in eyesight of the park. For the church, you just head south and up the mountain on the Shinto side of town. It should be obvious from there. Another part on the Shinto side is the harbor. If this has a plague component or something came into Fuyuki, it probably came in through the harbor."
Olga studied the map. As Shirou continued to name locations, other beacons popped up in various places. The bridge was easy to find -was it the only way to cross the river? - and she could see the mountain the church was on and harbor without difficulty. She also made note of the major roadways across the town.
"On your side of the river, you are in the East side. The Matou home is down the hill and to your East." The blue dot indicated where they were, incidentally also telling her that she was North of the river. Her eyes caught a road south of her that lead towards the river without going near the Matou residence. "My home is on the opposite side, far to the North and East of where you are. I can't really give you better directions than that so if you get closer, call and I'll lead you to the home where a minor Leyline is tapped. If you want to head to the temple from where you are, just take the road on your West. At the large intersection, turn left and to the North will be the Temple stairs. Homurahara Academy is nearby if you need to get snacks. Taiga-nee-chan keeps a drawer of food for her hunger pains there so it would be a good spot to stop and refresh."
A growl broke out from behind her and she shot an annoyed glare at Fujimaru only for Mash to redden in embarrassment. Couldn't they see that she was doing something important? Find some food if you are hungry!
"I can't really give you directions to the Eiznbern Castle, it is guarded by a Bounded field that protects them from being found. It is just somewhere in the forest West of you and I think North." The man added apologetically before he yawned.
"Alright. The Eiznbern are notorious for their withdrawn nature so their workshop should be difficult to find." She stated one of the facts she knew about the family that had the last vestiges of the 3rd Magic. "If there is nothing more, then I am cutting communication. Now go do your job."
She cut the connection and turned to Mash and Ritsuka. Like good soldiers, they had surged to their feet as she finished the call with Chaldea. She evaluated them for a second. As always, Mash didn't seem to have any malice towards her, but it had to be hidden somewhere in her. But she was now a Demi-Servant and as such was her only decent weapon available to her besides her own Magic Crest. As a commoner, Ritsuka was fundamentally unsuitable but he showed a good sense of obedience. She might keep him around after the Clock Tower sent replacements for the Masters. If only to threaten the applicants with being replaced by a commoner. Hmm, that's an idea… she could use the pride of the Masters to cause them submit to her orders instead of that pride causing those idiots to disobey her. All for the price of a little threat.
Before she could speak and give them their marching orders, Mash spoke, "Director, are you sure about this? There's also the option of waiting here for rescue."
Impossible was her first thought. Olga shook her head. "I can't afford to do that. After we return to Chaldea, who knows how long it will take to select the next team?"
Thinking some more about it and doing some quick estimations in her head, she concluded. "A month won't be enough time to gather personnel or funds. Do you know how much the Association will harass me in the meantime? Worst case, they'll blame me for mismanagement, and I'll lose Chaldea to them."
She clenched her teeth at the thought. Failure. She would be an even worse embarrassment to her family if she lost Chaldea too. They would probably strip her of the position of the Lord of the Animusphere family. "If that came to pass, I'd be toast. I can't go back empty-handed. I need something that will shut them up!"
She saw Mash recoil at her passionate words and felt pity again, as well as the usual twinge of fear that came when she thought about Mash. Poor Mash. She suffered so much and had so little to look forward to. Surely she would take revenge now that the fusion was complete. But with a Master, any threat will probably be contained. Unless the commoner got in on it too.
No, they are her only resources right now. She can't afford to show fear. It will only make leap at the first sign of her weakness.
But maybe pity and kindness would work. Offer the donkey the carrot when you no longer have the stick.
Olga softened her words as she continued her explanation. "Sorry, but you're both stuck with me, Mash, Ritsuka. Come on, let's explore this town. We have an idea of where to start so let's find the cause of this twisted history."
As she stepped through the Rayshift connection to the Summoning Chamber, the chamber dispersed into mana and spiritrons. Putting her hand on her hip, she pointed south across the rubble and destroyed land towards the road leading to the river. "Now let's go! We will first find that cursed park before checking out the church and if those don't turn anything up, then let's check the port."
Elsewhere in the town, a pair of eyes narrowed.
"Shirou Emiya."
Thanks to Eiskralle1and shadyxlr for betaing this chapter.
The following is in homage to the ongoing North America Fate Grand Order's Fate Zero event that is going on. It has a spoiler if you haven't completed the storyline yet. If you don't want a spoiler, then skip this and jump down to the second Omake.
Omake: A Vision of Something that Could have Been.
"This is the Tohsaka's house?" the three on the other side of the screen looked around, trying to see any trace of the house while standing in the transparent projection of the summoning experiment chamber. Shirou looked at the background and frowned. There didn't appear to be anything still standing, not even a wall or a floor that might indicate that this used to be Rin's home. Director Animusphere turned back to him with a raised eyebrow, indicating her disbelief. "Clearly not."
What was going on? This was Fuyuki but why were they at the Tohsaka manor but the manor is not even rubble?
Shirou abruptly remembered some of the theory he had had to learn in order to work here. Singularities were "stains" on human history. They were more similar to what-ifs than anything else. What if Tohsaka's manor had been destroyed and Rin killed before he was stabbed by Lancer? What if Japan had won World War II? What if Kiritsugu hadn't decided to fight for the Eiznbern?
For a brief moment, he saw a man with a red hood and a dagger hanging at his side pointing a sniper rifle at an adult female homunculus only for the incoming shot to be blocked by Saber and her invisible sword.
Shirou shook his head. Root, he must have been more tired than he thought if he was seeing hallucinations of Dad attempting to kill an Eiznbern woman. Dad had married one after all. No way that Dad would try to kill one without a good reason.
I do plan on doing stories for some of the events once I get past some plot points in this storyline. Now, onto the next side story!
Omake: A Real Terror for Tohsaka, Chaldea, and Flamos
"This is the Tohsaka's house?" the three on the other side of the screen looked around, trying to see any trace of the house while standing in the transparent projection of the summoning experiment chamber. Shirou looked at the background and frowned. There didn't appear to be anything still standing, not even a wall or a floor that might indicate that this used to be Rin's home. Director Animusphere turned back to him with a raised eyebrow, indicating her disbelief. "Clearly not."
What was going on? This was Fuyuki but why were they at the Tohsaka manor but the manor is not even rubble?
Shirou abruptly remembered some of the theory he had had to learn in order to work here. Singularities were "stains" on human history. They were more similar to what-ifs than anything else. What if Tohsaka's manor had been destroyed and Rin killed before he was stabbed by Lancer? What if Dad destroyed the Grail before it could have started the Fourth Grail War?
A blur of colors seemed to shimmer in his vision. He saw Dad, him, Illya, an adult version of Illya, and Illya's two maids living in a small house. But then the view changed and he saw Rin fighting with her rival Luvia in the night sky overhead, both of them wielding a pair of wands and- Was Rin wearing cat ears!? Why did Luvia have a tail!?
Shirou couldn't believe it. Well, the part of Rin and Luvia fighting again was completely believable- but there was no way that Rin would willingly dress up like a cat girl! He couldn't imagine Rin ever humiliating herself like that, especially anywhere near Luvia, much less Luvia playing along by dressing like a cross between a fairy and a kitsune!
Shirou shook his head, trying to dispel the kaleidoscope of colors, only to notice something happening near Fujimaru, Mash, and Animusphere. A patch of ground that was shaking and rumbling. The last time he had seen something like that was when a familiar had burst out from the ground and attacked him.
"Look out!" he cried even as Mash whirled around to meet the new threat that was bursting from the ground. He wished he could something to the -
Shirou blinked. Was that a wand? Why was there a moving object popping out from the ground?
"Hello! Pardon me, but it took some time to get out of the enchanted chest buried in the concrete buried under the workshop that was caved in under the rubble. Even a magnificent wand such as myself would take some time to get out." The red stick said as it waved and stretched in the air. "Why, one might think that Rin didn't want to even remember me."
Shirou starred. Mash blinked. Fujimaru tilted his head. Animusphere blinked and then buried her face in her palm.
"Uhmmm! Freedom tastes so good!" The red Mystic code cried out and then spun around to face the group from Chaldea.
Shirou wondered what was going on. Did Rin have a secret sentient Mystic Code that she didn't use during the Holy Grail War? Or was this another of the Singularity's differences from history? Or had she just left it left it home to guard the estate while she lived at his house?
"Nice to meet you! I am the magic stick of love and justice, Magical Ruby-Chan! One of you has been chosen as the next magical girl! Now, please take me into your hands! Devote yourself (and use me) against evil!" the mysterious object implored.
Shirou suddenly felt like a dangerous and suspicious offer had just been made. An offer that could change history, initiate innocent girls into Holy Grail Wars, dress young girls in indecent outfits, and traumatize his little sister.
It was quite obvious what he needed to do. He needed to kill it. At the first available opportunity.