Rin's apprehension rose as the elevator sunk into the earth, the clean white light of the room above fading to a dim shadow realm illuminated by running lights dotted sparsely along the shaft. The walls were stark bare concrete punctuated now and again by seams where the forms had been during construction, like a sidewalk turned on its side. Into one wall a deep inset raceway was covered by a grate, a number of power and data cables feeding life from the surface to whatever awaited them below.
Rider and Emil stood quietly at one side of the lift and she and Shirou at the other. Neither pair spoke although Rin was certain they had to have questions. It was as if the oppressive, expectant atmosphere of their decent suppressed conversation.
As the elevator ride stretched on Rin tried to calculate how far they might be beneath the earth. Surely they were beneath the streets, beneath the sewers and subways, beneath the foundations and the roots of the city. As they descended further the poured concrete abruptly gave way to solid bedrock carved with the teethmarks of massive digging tools. Some minutes later the elevator ground to a halt in front of an enormous set of steel doors. A lifetime of science fiction television had conditioned Rin to expect them to slide apart and recede into the rock face with the grinding of hidden machinery. Instead she saw as Shirou stepped forward that they swung inward on a massive set of hinges. They were secured with a sophisticated electronic locking system, the sort that you'd find on a bank vault or nuclear silo.
"This could be a problem." Rin said, glancing at Emil to make sure he wouldn't try anything before stepping forward to examine the lock. The keypad was blank and with no way of guessing the combination the doors seemed an insurmountable barrier. She was about to reach out and try to magically force the lock when Shirou stepped up next to her. He put his hands flat against the cool metal of the door, pulled a thin thread of power into himself, and began to push.
To Rin's surprise the door began to move inward with the whispering hiss of hydraulic fluids and metal-on-metal lubricants.
"It's not locked. He knows we're coming." Shirou said grimly in response to her questioning glance.
He pushed the huge portal wide enough for them to step through single file and was about to do so when Rider grabbed his wrist.
"Master, this could still be an ambush. I'll go first." He said.
"By all means, but be careful." Emil replied with a nod.
Rider bowed slightly and then stepped through, taking a moment to sweep for threats before motioning the rest of them through after him. Rin stepped through and into a white corridor dimly lit with a single flickering fluorescent fixture. It had the same hospital stark decor of the room above, a sterile and foreboding tunnel that lead straight onwards and then ran up against a simple set of double wooden doors. Rin's dread mounted as they drew nearer and nearer. It peaked when they swung open.
The room was brightly lit and furnished like a simple, functional, innocuous office. There was a row of filing cabinets and a water fountain. There was a potted plant. A dark haired figure sat at the desk that dominated the center of the room.
He was flanked on either side by two rigid backed guards standing at attention. They were wearing black tactical gear and featureless metal masks. Rin knew if she looked beneath the masks she would see Shirou's face staring back at her.
The figure at the desk added a deft pen stroke to the paperwork that he was fiddling with and then straightened.
"Hello, Omega." Kotomine said.
There was a moments shocked pause while the small group stared across the desk. When it looked like nobody would speak Kotomine shrugged and pushed himself up.
"I'm a bit surprised to..." He began. But the shock of seeing him in the flesh quickly wore off and he was interrupted by an inarticulate scream.
"YOU!" Shirou raged, leaping forward across the desk.
Like lightning Rider whipped his arm forward, dragging Shirou backwards and slamming him onto the floor. In an instant the point of his sword was hoovering just over Shirou's throat, pinning him on his back.
Kotomine looked unperturbed by the outburst, standing and casually brushing off the shoulder of his cassock. Despite his casual attitude the room was an instant torrent of magical hostility. The two guards behind the desk quickly fortified themselves, Rin and Emil both drew on their mana reserves in preparation for spontaneous spell casting, Rider filled himself with the endless font of Grail energy bestowed upon all Servants, and even from his position on the floor Shirou began to channel his powers. The only person who made no hostile movements was Kotomine. Which was fortunate, since the situation was wound so tight that the smallest attack from any party would have set it off like a powder keg.
"Theta, Rho, stand down. Emil, Tohsaka, welcome. My thanks for returning my wayward son to me." He said, taking charge to calm the belligerent parties.
"You aren't my father, you...you...you piece of garbage." Shirou hissed.
Kotomine laughed.
"I'm a father of the church, aren't I? All the wayward lambs on gods green earth are my children." He said. "And the word you're searching for is son-of-a-bitch. Ah, but I'd forgotten what a boyscout you've become."
Shirou swatted Rider's blade away, seething. Rider glanced at Emil, who nodded, and the swarthy servant moved his sword to allow Shirou to regain his feet. He stood trembling with hatred and rage, his fists clenched and his teeth grinding with frustration. At the slightest move Rider would take his head off.
"How dare you call yourself..." Shirou began, but Emil cut him off.
"Ahem. A touching reunion, to be sure. But you made certain promises to me, and I intend to see them fulfilled." He said dryly.
"You promised me the Omega weapon, a promise that you seem less and less likely to be able to fulfill. You've called the boy Omega. While he does poses a goodly number of aerodynamic properties I doubt that having Rider wield the lad will give me the victory you promised. And that makes me upset. I believe you have some explaining to do."
Emil hadn't forgotten for an instant that he was the most powerful man in the room. Certainly, Rin and Kotomine were powerful mages. And yes, Shirou and the two clones possessed fortification magic that would boost their strength and speed to many times that of an average human. But none of them could hope to match a true Servant. And the only Servant in the room owed allegiance to Emil.
"Ah, yes, the weapon I promised you. You see, there's been a small change of plans. A change precipitated by Omega, here." Kotomine said, nodding his head towards Shirou.
"Stop calling me that! My name is..." He began in heated tones. He was silenced as Rider slapped the flat of his blade against his chest. Rin felt her ire rise. They were being ignored like children while Emil and Kotomine spoke.
Kotomine shook his head disapprovingly.
"Very well then. If you'd care to follow me I'll give you what was promised." He said, leading the way to a door at the back of the room. Before he reached it he snapped his fingers and the two clones guarding the desk sprang forward. Before they could react each had seized Rin by one of her arms and although she struggled she was no match for their magically enhanced strength. When they moved Shirou surged forward but Rider once again blocked him, this time lazily reaching out and slicing a long cut along his chest for his efforts.
Kotomine turned back to watch the commotion with a passive expression on his face.
"Come along quietly, you two. I don't think it's necessary to mention that if you make any trouble for me I'll have Rho snap her neck like a twig." He said.
Shirou gritted his teeth but didn't move. And so, with Rin in the clone's grip and Shirou in Rider's, they marched deeper into the underground facility. Kotomine spoke with the tone of a bored teacher delivering a lecture.
"It is the goal of all great men to gain in power and dominion, to control other men and shape the world to their whims. Power can mean many different things to many different people but in all cases it means control. What do you suppose are the two great powers of the modern world?" He asked.
"The Church and the Mages." Emil answered with the air of a bored student who was simply humoring an overeager instructor.
"That's, well, that's not what I meant." Kotomine said. "My fault, I suppose that's a leading question. No, I mean the power of Magic and the wondrous powers of Technology."
Emil snorted.
"Technology? You mean the blinking lights and meaningless weapons that the proletariat clings to? Worthless when compared to the power of magic. Any mage could defeat any soldier any time he wanted to." He retorted.
"Aaaaah, so you see." Kotomine said slyly. "Yes, on an individual basis the mage will win every time. But what about ten soldiers? Or twenty? Or a hundred? Or a thousand? Why is it that mages cower in their clocktower and hide their existence from the world instead of taking their rightful place as leaders of humanity? To put it simply, we're outnumbered. It takes a lifetime of training to produce a mage powerful enough to be considered a warrior. At the same time even the poorest nation could produce enough weapons to outfit a hundred armies. And that's small arms only. What about missiles? Tanks? Satellites? No, as long as mages rely on traditional magic we will forever be rats nibbling at the great feast that is our world instead of ruling it as is our right."
As he spoke they rounded a corner and approached another large set of doors.
"As you may be aware I was one of the Masters in the last Heaven's Feel. I saw there the utter purity, the incorruptible power of the Grail. The power of the Servants. The man who controlled such a weapon as a Servant could rule the world! But a Servant will not last out the Grail War. When the grail vanishes so must they. And therein lies the challenge. How do you transform a temporary boon granted by the Grail into a permanent weapon with which to crush the nations of man underfoot? Oh, you could feed it a continuous stream of prana, perhaps from a series of victims sacrificed over a long period of time to maintain its potency. But that's so...inefficient. Primeval. And once again you face the simple but insurmountable obstacle of numbers. How much could you hope to accomplish with just one Servant, no matter how powerful? Oh, you could gain dominion over one city. Perhaps even a country. But what of the rest of the world? Every nation aligned against you the instant that you display your power?"
"No, the solution I stumbled upon lay in the opposite direction. Rather than take the attributes of a weapon and convey them on a Servant, why not take the attributes of a Servant and convey them upon a weapon? Here at last I began to have some success. On the one hand I had the pure, hard sciences of man. Cloning. Genetic manipulation. Brainwashing. On the other I had the great magics of the Grail. The speed and strength of a Servant, the ability to pull energy from a magical contract. It was the combination of the two that first yielded results. A hybrid. Perhaps it could be called a clone. Perhaps it could be called a homunculus. Neither would be perfectly accurate. It has the magical potency of the Servant that it was created from and the natural fortification magic of the child that provided its basic genetic structure. Powerful. Disposable. Easy to control. Well...with one exception." Kotomine said with a sardonic grin in Shirou's direction.
Emil blanched. He clearly thought Kotomine was as insane as Rin did.
"This boy, Omega, is one of these creations? And that creature Sigma as well? I remain unimpressed. Yes, it was destructive and powerful. But still no match for Rider by any stretch of the imagination." He said haughtily, glancing at Shirou.
"Ah," Said Kotomine slyly. "You're forgetting my creations' main strength. Something no Servant or mage could ever hope to match. A capacity that will make them the most fearsome weapon on the planet..."
They had reached the end of the corridor and Kotomine threw open the doors with a flourish.
Rin gasped.
"Mass production."
They stood at one end of a massive underground storage facility, its ceiling stretching up and up into indistinguishable darkness. There were rows upon rows of massive metal racks stretching upwards into that darkness and marching outwards from a central aisle. Arrayed neatly in these racks were countless metal coffins identical to the stasis pod in the safe room high above them that had held Sigma. There were hundreds, even thousands of them marching back into the darkness like neat little soldiers.
They stood in silence for a moment, Rin horrified, Emil impressed. The enforcer holding her shoved her roughly forwards and they fell into step behind Kotomine once again. Beside her Shirou was seething but could do nothing under the watchful eyes of Rider and the others.
"This is...quite the project." Emil said. "But why tell me all this? Why bring me here?" He asked.
Kotomine gave him a smile like a cat just before it pounced on a mouse.
"Why, your Servant, of course. That's the whole reason I triggered the War. You see, I've tapped out my research. There's only so much that I can do with the available samples. I need fresh subjects. Humans, why, those are easy to come by. But Servants? That's another matter entirely."
"What!?" Emil burst out, stepping away from Kotomine. Beside her Rin felt Rider stiffen and she braced herself for action. Shirou caught her eye and she nodded imperceptibly. This could be their chance to break away.
Kotomine shrugged and spread his hands in a non-threatening gesture that he none the less managed to make look like a raised fist.
"It's simple, you have a choice afforded to few. Turn your command seals over to me now and leave this place. Rider will fuel my research and you will be assured a place at my side. Refuse and I'll take your seals, a process that you likely won't survive, and in the long run nothing will change. You will be dead and I'll get exactly what I want anyway."
Emil barked a laugh.
"You'll kill me? You?" He let out another dangerous sounding chuckle.
"I should kill you for your temerity. Come, Rider. We're leaving. You can stay here and play your sick games. But know this. If I ever see you again I will kill you." He said, standing chest to chest with Kotomine.
Kotomine shook his head sadly.
"My apologies, but I can't simply let you leave. I hoped it wouldn't come to this..." He said, stepping backwards.
Rider followed him with his eyes but didn't release Shirou. But Kotomine moved in a sudden rush, dashing backwards and hitting the activation node on a nearby container. It stood near the end of the row in a position of no real significance. But Rin could make out the lettering embossed on the surface of the metal coffin. Each of the surrounding coffins had a long serial number including clone generation and experiment number. The coffin that Kotomine activated had one single glyph. A stylized Α. The symbol Alpha.
The coffin split open with a hiss and pressurized mist began to billow out. Rider snapped his attention forward. Shirou seized the opportunity and rushed him off balance with his shoulder, pulling away from the surprised Servant's grip. He pulled Rin out of the grip of the enforcer that held her. There was a burst of magical power from him and he hurled the masked clone into a nearby row of containers. Rider made motions as if to engage them but Emil cut him off with a gesture.
"Let them go." He said. "There are more pressing issues."
Shirou grabbed Rin's hand and dashed away through the rows of metal pods, ducking around a corner and pulling her down out of sight.
"Are you alright? We have to get out of here." He said urgently.
They both peeped around the corner as the scene unfolded. Rider was standing his ground between Emil and Kotomine. Besides the dark mage the pod the had activated swung open. A figure emerged through the mists and Rin suppressed a shudder. It may have been handsome, once. The last vestiges of fine golden hair clung to a scalp ravaged by drugs, tissue samples, and repeated surgeries. Half of the twisted creature's skull had been replaced by a shiny metal plate, one eye socket hollowed out to reveal a faintly glowing red photoreceptor. Its body was a twisted mass of scar tissue cobbled together with stitches and stables. Vast swatches of flesh including its entire left arm had been replaced by glittering metallic cybernetics. Thick tubes of ichorous fluids ran between its flesh and its machinery. It was a ravaged, broken being, torn apart by Kotomine's dark experiments and then rebuilt as a slave to his will.
"Alpha. Kill the mage and subdue that Servant." Kotomine said in a conversational tone.
The Alpha weapon stepped forward, it's desiccated flesh pulling into a grimace. It opened its mouth, a mechanical grating like a pant coming from whatever machinery had replaced its voice box.
"Mon...grels..."