Chaldea Station
A young, black haired boy slowly opened his eyes as he felt the ship he was traveling on tremble and shake as it connected to the Chaldea Station. He, alongside the 5 others candidates on the ship, had been put in special coffins that recreated an old battle that Chaldea had previously fought. A simulation, to test whether or not they were up to the challenge, if they were worthy of becoming Masters.
As the transport finished anchoring into the station, the doors opened and Lev walked in, surprised to see all 5 of them just barely waking up.
"They really had it rough with their simulations…" - Lev whispered to himself before speaking to the 5 of them - "Welcome, all of you, to the Chaldea Security Organization, my name is Lev Lainur. Please, follow me and I'll take you with the Director" -
The 5 got up from the coffins and slowly and clumsily made their way towards the door, with Lev at the front of them. He was a bit frustrated over how slow they were moving. He had to do the same with the other groups that came prior, and all of them had been faster, without exception.
At least this would be the last time he would have to do this tour.
As they walked across the hallways of Chaldea, the candidates were explained the mission of the organization, as well as the role they would play. Even if they didn't have enough skill to become Masters, they would still be given a job at Chaldea based on their skills. They were all excited, if a bit tired due to the mental strain of the simulation.
However, there was one that wasn't feeling just tired. Ritsuka Fujimaru was slowly falling behind, he felt his eyes get heavier by the second, and he lacked the strength to move. He laid against the wall for a moment, hoping that stopping for a second would give him enough strength to continue the tour. He told the others that he would rest for a second, but his voice didn't reach them, and they continued without noticing. Then, he closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
After Lev and the rest left, not having noticed the unconscious boy behind them, a small creature approached him from the other side of the hallway. It resembled a white squirrel, and began sniffing Ritsuka out of curiosity. Then, it bit his pants and slowly dragged him from the hallway to somewhere else.
"Fou? Where are you?" - a girl's voice was heard far away. The small creature let out a high pitch noise before continuing to drag Ritsuka's body in the direction of the girl.
It took a while, but eventually Fou reached the person that was looking for it. She was a girl with pink hair going to her shoulders, she wore a lab coat with Chaldea's symbol on it, indicating her job at the organization.
"There you are Fou, I looked for you everywhere and-Wait…" - the girl was about to chastise Fou before turning her eyes to see what the small creature brought with it - "Is he… Another one of the candidates?" -
Fou nodded its head before jumping to the boy's face and poking it with its feet to try and wake him up to no avail. After that, he turned to Mashu and turned his head sideways, as if asking what to do now.
Mashu wanted to call Doctor Roman. He always took care of those that had issues after the simulations, but just before she could run to him, the boy groaned and slowly opened his eyes.
"Where… Where am-" -
"Please stay still, I need to check your vitals" - Mashu said before rushing at the boy and holding him down. Then, a hologram appeared in front of her, showing the boy's body - "Heart's stable, breathing's stable, everything seems fine" -
"You… Who are you?" - the half-awake Ritsuka asked, and the girl turned to look at him.
"Oh, right, I suspect that after passing out like that, seeing someone else without prompt would be off putting" - she said, then looked Ritsuka directly in the eyes - "My name is Mashu Kyrielight, assistant researcher at Chaldea" -
Mashu extended her hand at Ritsuka to help him get up, which the boy took a few seconds after. He staggered a bit while getting back on his feet, but thanks to the girl, he avoided falling again.
"Are you one of the new recruits?" -
"Yes, my name's Ritsuka Fujimaru. I was supposed to accompany someone named Lev to see the Director but I decided to stop to have a small rest and well… You can see how that turned out" - Ritsuka explained his situation to Mashu.
"If you're supposed to meet the Director, and you're… Oh, things are going to be bad" -
While Ritsuka and Mashu talked, Lev finished giving the other candidates the tour around Chaldea, and finally took them to meet with Chaldea's Director, Olga Marie Animusphere, who was in Chaldea's Command Center and ready to begin the explanation to the 48 Masters and to the rest the personel.
"Director Olga Marie, we're here" - Lev spoke as the door opened. After gaining her attention, the Director turned to face them.
"Took you long enough Lev, now you 5 go on and take a seat so we can…" -
"Director? Is something wrong?" - Lev asked, as she suddenly stopped talking out of nowhere without explanation.
"Lev, remind me of how many candidates were coming to Chaldea? And how many candidates were you supposed to bring here?" -
"What's that question, Director? Five candidates" -
"Correct. And, how many did you bring here?" -
"I brought all five of…" - Lev then stopped for a moment and realized his mistake.
"Lev, you incompetent buffoon! How did you mess up such a simple task after doing it so many times!?" -
Lev kept his composure as Olga continued to yell at him. He always hated how little tolerance the woman had towards any situation. She may have inherited several things from her father, but his patience was not of those.
"You better go and search for him right now, and make sure to actually bring him here this time" -
"Yes… Director" - Lev did his best to keep his smile despite Olga's attitude. At least he wouldn't have to tolerate her for much longer, it brought him some joy.
Then, Lev left the room and went searching for Ritsuka, retracing his steps to the docking bay, all the while the Master candidate was alongside Mashu, discussing the boy's situation.
On the other hand, Olga turned her view again to those that were in the command center with her. They were the best for this mission, and they would face whatever threatened her father's mission.
They would not fail.
She would not fail.