Fate/first order derivative
Part II.2

⇒ continue: iteration 24, day 7, evening

And I'm running again. The ground's soft here. Feels like racing on sand. Mud covers my shoes and the bottom of my pants. Lungs feel about ready to burst, but what else is new.

"MOVE IT!" Rin shouts back at me from several paces ahead. She's faster than me. I try for an extra burst of speed anyway.

Three of Archer's arrows streak over our heads. I hear them explode like mortar shells right behind us.

I risk a glance back over my shoulder. Saber walks out the fireball without a scratch, her sword still wet with Shirou's blood.

⇒ wait what
⇒ what is happening

I have no idea!

⇒ that is less than helpful

Shit! Shit is happening, all right?! Of the downward moving variety!

Looking back was a mistake. My foot catches on a root. I go down like a sack of potatoes and faceplant straight into the muck. Stumble-crawling to my feet, I pull my mud-covered glasses away from my eyes.

When I look up, I find Saber standing over me. She raises the jet-black blade.

Something red flashes in the air. I hear a loud clang. Archer grimaces as he blocks Saber's sword - not with his usual pair of twin knives, but with a silver longsword. "She - said - move!" he growls.

"Yep!" No need to tell me twice. I scramble away.

⇒ where are you

By the lake behind Ryuudou Temple, up on the mountain. Look, can I explain after I'm finished running for my life?! Is that too much to ask?

Archer seems to be only barely holding her off. I hear him grunt as she presses her blade down on him. "Now - would be - a great time - to snap out of it, Saber!"

Saber doesn't reply. She just moves her head out of the way as one of Rin's Gandr blasts streaks over Archer's shoulder. (How the hell can she even see with that black visor thing over her eyes?)

I catch up with Rin, standing on top of a slight rise about twenty meters away. Should I keep going? No, no - don't split the party. I look back. It's fuzzy without my glasses, but I think I see Saber break away and slash at Archer from the side. He's ready for that, though, and leaps back. I hear him mutter something under his breath. "Rho Aias!"

Some kind of glittering translucent flower unfolds in the air between us and Saber. Archer jumps again and lands next to us, his hand held out towards the projection.

"You can make a shield?!" Rin glares at him. "Why didn't you tell me you can make shields?!"

"I just remembered I could do this, okay?!" Archer snaps. "We need to leave. Now."

"Fuck that! We're putting Goth Barbie here in the ground!" So much for Baeber, I guess...

"I don't know what's going on here, Rin!" Archer glares at her. "What we just saw should be impossible! Hilarious, sure - but still impossible!"

I rub my glasses off on my jacket and shove them back on my face. Just in time to see what's happening in front of us. "Uh... guys?" I whimper.

They look up. Behind Archer's shield, Saber stands with her sword raised in the air, crimson energy swirling in the air around her. Small clumps of earth and grass float lazily upwards in defiance of gravity.

"... balls," Archer says flatly.

⇒ so about that running

Too late. Saber brings the blade down. "Excalibur Morgan!"

A tsunami of black energy crashes down against the flower. Layer after layer of shielding appears out of nowhere, only to get shredded to bits by the wave. I hear Archer yell wordlessly, lightning flashing around his arm. Then the flower breaks and it all comes down on us -


⇒ restart: iteration 25, day 1, early night

Well... shit. Balls indeed, Not Actually Satan. Balls indeed.

⇒ okay so now
⇒ what the fuck was that

I told you, I don't know. We were up on the mountain, okay? I was trying out that idea you gave me. You know, using the mana detector to track down Caster?

⇒ right

But the only signal I could find was coming from the mountain. And Rin said doy, that's where all the leylines in the area meet up, and anyway she can detect mana way better than some old hunk of scrap, so why even bothering with this. Which was, you know, annoying. But I just kinda gritted my teeth and let it pass because I clearly need her help with the world-saving thing. Even if I'm still not a hundred percent sure I'm over the whole child murder incident, but that's a whole 'nother thing -

⇒ focus

Right, sorry. There's just a whole lot to unpack here, you know? - So we went up to the mountain anyway, because I've been meaning to snoop around up there. That's when Rin remembered there's some kind of Anti-Servant Barrier thing around the whole monastery. The only way they can get in is by going through the front entrance. Which strikes me as a little sketchy, you know? Even if she says it's always been there.

⇒ just a bit

Rather than break the party, I suggested that we skirt around the barrier and go through the woods around the temple. Try searching there first. So we went around the mountain, and then I start getting these weird readings on the detector. Not G- or Z-Energy - something I didn't recognize.

⇒ what kind of readings

I can't remember. I wrote down the pattern so I could look it up when I got back. Obviously, things didn't work out that way. Anyway, Rin can't sense anything, but I talk them into checking it out anyway. That leads us to the lake out behind the temple.

So we're poking around on the shore when suddenly this big tentacle - or tendril, I guess? It looked all flat, like a ribbon or a long sheet of paper. It just reaches out of the lake, grabs Saber, and pulls her into the water. Like bam. Fucking Jaws. Over in a flash. She didn't get the chance to say anything.

⇒ sounds like the start to a bad hentai

You said it, not me. So obviously, we're concerned. Shirou was all ready to jump in after her. We held him back, at least until we knew what the hell we were dealing with here. Rin called Archer. Don't know why he wasn't there in the first place, honestly... I guess she likes keeping him at a distance, since his class is all about ranged attacks?

So we waited by the lakeside for a bit. Shirou said he could see something. He goes rushing over and reaches down into the water -

And a sword came out from beneath the surface and stabbed him right through the chest.

Rin starts yelling and screaming. I guess I was just kind of stunned. Saber just comes rising out of the water - not swimming, like she's on a platform or something. She's dressed in this spiky black armor. And she's got this metal thing over her eyes, like an eye mask without any holes or lenses. Her sword was different, too - solid black instead of invisible, with glowy red shit all over the place. Along with. You know. All the blood.

⇒ did she say anything

Not a word. Shirou did, or tried to. He reached out towards her. She just sliced upwards through his chest, then kicked him to the side. Like he was... I don't know... a trash bag that got in her way or something.

Then Saber turned towards us. You pretty much saw the rest after that.

⇒ shit dude

Yeah. So that happened.

⇒ so what now

Now I take a few minutes to pull myself together, because this is my life now, I guess. Then I go do the usual spoiler briefing. At least I've got something new to report this time...


⇒ skip forward

"That's impossible," Rin says when I've finished my story. "A Servant can't just turn on their Master like that! They'd have nowhere to get mana from."

"Not to mention, I would never do anything like what you described." Saber crosses her arms. "It would go against everything I am."

"That's the - ummph." A bit of the leftover sushi from Shirou's fridge nearly flies out of my mouth. (It's so weird that I'm hungry. I'm usually not hungry when this happens.) I swallow my food like a normal person and continue. "Sorry. That's the thing. I'm not so sure it was you. The way you were acting... it was like you were possessed or a robot duplicate or something. Or maybe, like, Negaverse you. I don't know."

⇒ like she'd been altered somehow

Sure, why not. Saber scratches her chin. "... the attack I made at the end. Are you certain I said Morgan?"

"Something like that, yeah."

She narrows her eyes, but doesn't say anything further.

Shirou sighs. "So there's big mysterious thing in the lake we shouldn't go near, and an Anti-Servant Field around the temple. Got it."

"And the world ends in thirteen days," I add helpfully. Huh. I don't usually feel this chipper either. Kind of a wacky night for me all around, really.

"And that. Right." Shirou runs a hand through his hair. "Anything else we should know?"

"Well... there's all the stuff with Rider, too," I say. "Like the fact her Master's Shinji Matou."

"He's what," Rin says flatly.

⇒ wait he is

Oh, yeah. We should probably jump back to that, shouldn't we?


⇒ skip back to: iteration 22, day 4, early night

So I called in sick to school for the second day in a row. Haven't been of much use overall. Seeing something like, oh, the end of the freaking world kinda does that to me, it turns out. Besides, with everything I told them, Shirou and Rin should be able to get through the first few days without me, right?

At least, that's what I'd figured. Up until Rin calls my cell phone and tells me that Shirou's dead.

"He is?" I blink. That's never happened before. "How?"

"Frigging Berserker, that's how!" Rin's mad as hell at me. "He and the spermling busted in on us at the school today! Why the fuck didn't you warn us?!"

"Rin, this is literally the first I've heard of this." I sit up in bed. "I've even been at school today before and never saw anything like that."

"Yeah, well - it fucking happened, okay?!"

It's hard staying mad at her when she sounds this upset. I try for a soothing tone. "I know. I believe you. Just tell me what happened."

Rin sniffles. "S-so - we went to shut down the bounded field around the school, right? We break into the chem lab. But Rider's already dead."

"So Rider was the source of the field?" In retrospect, really should've pushed Shirou and Rin for more details about today's events in previous loops.

"Duh! So the field outside goes down. And that's when Einzbern and her monster come in through the window like a fucking wrecking ball or something! We didn't even have a chance. Saber was still upstairs fending off Caster's shit."

"Wait - so Caster was there too?" Bloody hell. What a clusterfuck.

"Of course she was! Who the fuck else do you think killed Rider?!"

I start running through things in the back of my head. Berserker's never shown up at school during the day. What did I change this time? Nothing I hadn't before. I just gave them the heads-up about Kotomine and the ambush as usual, so they could skip going to the church and that whole -

Wait. Something finally clicks. Come to think of it, just about every time I've let them skip the church, von Einzbern's turned up at some point a few days later. So if that battle on the first night doesn't happen... does she just keep on hunting Shirou into the rest of the week?

But Rin's still talking. "S'weird, though... Rider didn't look like she'd been killed with magic. Way too brute force. But Berserker came in after we found her body. That little fuck Shinji ran off before I could get anything out of him, of course."

I blink again. "Shinji Matou? What does he have to do with any of this?"

"He was Rider's Master, that's what!" Rin snaps. "GOD! You're useless!"

I hear her slam the phone down. The call cuts off.


⇒ skip forward to: iteration 25, day 1, early night

"I'm telling you right now - there is absolutely no way Shinji Matou could have possibly summoned a Servant." Rin folds her arms. "His Magic Circuits are gone. Completely blocked. He's got less mana than you do."

"That's what you said last time, too." I eat another piece of tuna. "But, um... I guess he actually straight-up tells Shirou he's a Master after school on Monday? Offers to hire you or something." I direct that last bit at Shirou.

Rin furrows her brow. "But that makes no sense..."

I can only shrug in response. Shirou scratches the back of his head. "Well... I guess I could try asking Sakura about it..."

"His sister, you mean?" I nod. "You gave that a shot last time, too. You said she wouldn't tell you anything."

Shirou blinks. "Huh."

I finish off the rest of the roll. Rin shifts her eyes. "Well, in that case... why don't you try talking to her?"

"Me?" I swallow and give her a confused look. "What would that accomplish? I don't even know her."

"Hey! Don't give me that bull crap!" Rin jabs her finger at me. "We're about to walk out of here and face a monster on your say-so! You having to meet new people? Not a big ask by comparison!"

"Okay, okay..." To further test my theory of Unified Post-Friday Berserker Incidence, I'd split the difference this time: I told them about the ambush, but asked them to walk into the trap anyway. So she has a point. I rub the back of my neck awkwardly. "I mean... I guess I could try, if you want..."

"Oh, suck it up, nerd." Rin rolls her eyes. "A little socializing won't hurt you."

Well... guess I have an assignment this time. Oh, joy.


⇒ skip to: iteration 25, day 2, late night

Got the next Shin decrypt done:

INTERESTING. THIS NEW BOOK FROM Z SUGGE
STS THAT EACH MAGE HAS HIS/HER OWN DIST
INCT MANA SIGNATURE, LIKE A MAGIC FINGE
RPRINT. THIS APPARENTLY COMES INTO PLAY
WITH HEALING MAGIC. SAID SPELLS ARE MOR
E EFFECTIVE IF PERFORMED BY A CLOSE GEN
ETIC RELATIVE. AS THE MANA SIGNATURES A
RE SIMILAR, THEIR ENERGY IS LESS LIKELY
TO BE REJECTED BY THE PATIENT'S BODY, A
LONG THE SAME LINES AS A DONATED ORGAN.
I WONDER IF THIS COULD BE USED FOR AUTH
ENTICATION?

Z? Who the fuck is Z?


⇒ skip to: iteration 25, day 3, morning

Okay, it's Sunday. I'm at school. I've tracked down Sakura Matou, like Rin asked. And... um. Slight issue here.

⇒ what

... she's hot.

⇒ oh

I mean, just really insanely hot. As in how-have-I-not-noticed-her-before hot.

⇒ uh-huh

No, really! There's something weird going on here. Why isn't this girl a bigger deal? I mean, as far as I know, she's a complete social non-entity. People don't talk about her at all.

It just doesn't make any sense. Sure, her brother's an asshole - but all that says about her is that she's rich, too, and you can see how much that hurts his popularity. Shirou says that she's quiet, but I can't really see that being a problem. And yeah, the purple hair and eyes are a little weird - I guess she wears contacts? - but that should make her stand out more, not less.

Do you see why I'm a little freaked out here? It's like looking inside your own garage one day and finding... I don't know... a luxury car or a boat or something. Just sitting there. Chilling. Been there since before you moved in. It's always been there. You just never noticed.

⇒ oh yeah
⇒ because that's totes the reason you're sweating bullets here

Well, yeah, okay, there's that, but... look, I just wasn't prepared for this, all right? I'm way off balance here. Way, way off balance.

⇒ just go up and talk to her you goob

Oh, easy for you to say! And maybe this isn't a great time for her, anyway, and I should probably hold off until lunch -

⇒ look worst case here if you screw it up
⇒ then you just try again next loop
⇒ she won't remember a thing

... oh. Right. That's true, isn't it. I... guess I am kind of lucky in that respect.

⇒ exactly

Well, all right... here goes... transferring social anxiety into manic energy, as per usual...

⇒ no no
⇒ just relax you idiot

Relax. Right. Sure. Totally relaxed here. Just so obviously completely relaxed, can't you tell...

Regardless, I take a deep breath and step out from behind the wall I'm cringing against into the stairwell. Here she comes up the stairs from the floor below.

"Hi!" I put on my very best totally-not-a-serial-killer smile, which no doubt looks just as convincing as it sounds. "Sakura, right?"

⇒ oy

"Yeah?" She looks up as she reaches the top step.

"Hi. Again. I'm Tom." I scratch the back of my head awkwardly. "Sorry, could I just get a moment of your time here?"

"Oh, sure," she says, completely deadpan. "I love being stopped in between classes by complete strangers."

Uh... huh. So not positive, but... like... maybe seventy percent sure we're doing the whole passive-aggressive snark thing here? I guess I can get behind that. "It won't take long, I swear. So about your brother -"

She sighs. "No, I will not help you annihilate or otherwise exact violent revenge upon him."

I blink. "Uh... wait, are you serious? Or..."

Sakura gives me a non-committal shrug. "You'd be surprised how often it comes up."

So I guess I'm not the only one in the school with a poor opinion of the guy. That's... oddly gratifying, actually. If a lot more bloodthirsty than I would've anticipated.

⇒ it's never just you

Anyway, let's get back on task. "Yeah, it's not that. About Shinji, though..."

And that's right about when some asshole first-year jumps down like six steps at once and lands with a loud clap on the landing right next to me. Which kicks my heart rate up, sure, whatever. But Sakura startles hard, and she's still standing right at the top of the stairs. (I really should've picked a better place to talk.) She stumbles backwards with a gasp - right onto the edge of the step. The books in her hands go flying. She totters there, eyes wide.

"Fuck!" Without thinking, I reach out to steady her.

It's only as my hand closes around her left wrist and I pull her forward that it occurs to me I forgot to wear gloves today.

ZZRRRP