(Gudako)

Hm? Someone messaging me through the System? Nodding in agreement with Georgios' assessment of the Singularity's strategic situation, she did the mental equivalent of glancing to the side in order to accept the link. "I'm here."

"Any company?"

"Our Lady, if that's-"

"Yeah, her. Don't be alarmed, but try to make sure she doesn't do any transforming. Especially not Ascension."

Gudako raised an eyebrow, but no one was paying attention to her. Except probably Kiyohime, who was dividing said attention between her and the new Master (presumed). "That's alarming already. Details?"

"That (Magical Girl) Class Skill shares some meta-characteristics with (Madness Enhancement). da Vinci saw the information but didn't notice the connection and we didn't want to highlight it."

"...are you kidding me?" She felt like cursing. Ruby being able to show up at will likely meant the Servant was only ever an act of will away from transforming.

"Is something wrong?" Kiyohime asked suddenly, pulling all eyes towards the homunculus.

"Damn it, Kiyohime," she vented. "I've told you it's a real turn-off when you do that."

"Huh?" Sasaku seemed to realize the need to step in. "What's on your mind, Master?"

She quickly thought of something appropriate to share. "You might have guessed that today's a pretty big day for us - the homunculi, that is."

"I'm pretty sure that holds for the rest of the Four Houses," Martha added with a tinge of irony which she ignored. "Yes, but we're the ones linked via the System, and I rather not be seen as hogging her attention. We should get out and 'meet the people,' so to speak."

"I thought you were going to spend some time with me," Kiyohime grumbled dangerously.

"Er, would you rather get that time with Sasaku?" Gudako suggested slyly. "Since you two don't really know one another yet... I'm fine if you rather do that today."

"What." The mentioned Servant blinked in surprise. "Don't tell me you just swap."

"Yep," Gudako informed her. "Provided you count as a Master, anyway. The other Rulers don't, no Command Spells."

"I can't tell if that's oddly convenient or conveniently odd," Sasaku said in a deadpan manner.

"The second," Jeanne volunteered. "It's (Madness Enhancement) in a more subtle manifestation; the confusing Masters for Anchin, that is. Burning people to death for lying near her isn't subtle, I guess."

"So..." Kiyohime returned to the conversation after having made up her mind. "Are we done here?"

"Yeah. Oh wait, I've made a mistake, haven't I?" Gudako realized, far too late.

"Seems so," Georgios agreed. "I guess your friends will have to wait... an hour. It's been over a decade, they'll be fine."

l

(Kyron, Chaldea's Control Room)

"All the systems read as back online," da Vinci hopped off her chair, transitioning smoothly to rolling over towards the door of the Control Room. "Good job on another successful summoning, everyone."

Some of the humans on duty still seemed doubtful of the day's events, but wisely didn't say anything, seeing how excited many of their homunculi colleagues had been from the first readings of said summoning.

"Let's see, we should be running Blades One and Two next," Kyron announced, moving over to the section from which he oversaw the Generators. "Status?"

"Standing by; firing chambers already discharged and isolated."

"Right. Signal them to fire when ready." He peered at the screen readout of Chaldea's eight Blade Generators, though obviously One and Two had no readings at the moment. In fact, provided the protective wardings held as they should, there should be minimal measurable changes from the containment sensors during the firing sequence.

Minutes passed before data from the latest firing began to show up on the system. "Seems within usual ranges," the operator commented. A few more days worth.

"Good," he replied quickly. The system had multiple buffer-storage partitions, so the initial re-connection of the firing chambers was the only real systemic risk point, small as it is. He turned to the right. "How's the Rayshift Vault?"

"We've been waiting on you," the overseer on shift responded immediately. "Everything is dialed in for France, they're looking for more Dragon Fangs today."

"The Vault's been isolated," her operator reported, passing on the Rayshift authorization. "Magical energy draw is right on target. The Observation section has sent an initial verification success."

Kyron was only half paying attention to that, since his duties weren't over yet as evidenced by the incomplete Generator Firing checklist in his hands. After the firing chambers had been connected to their respective first stage capacitors, those would be connected to the protective buffers between them and the second stage bulk storage capacitors. A series of output capacitors would then smooth out any fluctuations before the magical energy haul would finally make it onto Chaldea's energy grid, though he only looked over the second stage for this part.

"Blade operators?" he asked quickly, eyes moving downward to the Personnel section.

"En route to medical. No issues." Another check.

"Blade inspection found no faults, they've been moved to the vault." That one went under Maintenance. To balance out any potential transient effects of large-scale transfers, the protocol called for firing two Blades in sync. Eight Blades meant four pairs, and with a firing every other day that meant each Blade had a generous eight days between firings before any schedule disruption.

The Masters had been thinking to up the tempo somewhat, in order to use the greater energy output in order to fabricate more of the Saint Quartz which the Summoning system ran on, though perhaps there was less need for that now.

l

(Orleans, a transient fragment of the Dragon Witch Singularity)

(Gudao)

"I've been wondering something," the Master said, brushing his noteworthy black hair out of his eyes while scanning the horizon hoping to sight one of the land's wyverns who for whatever reason dropped Dragon Fangs. "About the World's theoretical pruning phenomenon."

"Why ask me about that?" his late mother's husband muttered while also on the lookout for the same 'birds'. "Ask da Vinci, or Sasaku now that you've actually got her here."

"It's less of a question, really..." The issue had been on his mind ever since the Rider had confirmed the non-existence of things outside of Chaldea or the Singularities. "The Founder said that it was important to guard the continuation of the Human Order because the World wouldn't allow otherwise. But it has clearly failed to do so in the current circumstance."

"That would be because the culprit was likely acting externally. They simply weren't in a branch to be pruned away," Euryale observed from her vantage point on a towering Asterios as the Archer on duty for the day's expedition.

"Right. So that means it is possible to get out of the World system's influence, like Gilgamesh suggested to Our Lady," the Master pointed out.

"Actually getting to a place like that would be hard, even for the Gods," she retorted. "Mount Olympus, the real one such as it was... is still not outside of the possibility of being pruned."

"But with the Separation Order in place, isn't Chaldea essentially such a place? We were not in part of any human history branch, and thus escaped the Incineration."

"Your friends... outside. Though." The Minotaur seemed to feel the need to remind him.

"Oh, he doesn't mean to abandon them," Saber said simply. "The Four Houses have run up against some odd phenomena which are most likely due to the World's influence. Think of it like being able to move between normal gravity and outer space, I think da Vinci put it."

"Don't you Easterners have that idea about enlightenment and leaving the circle of rebirth?" the Greek goddess asked, already bored and toying with her bow.

"Received wisdom from magi aside, it's the reverse; since the Founder's experience with Imaginary Number space, we've been wondering if the Separation Order can be parlayed into immortality or even resurrection options. Since the Grail can even collect souls, as Archer has said."

"Something like the Throne of Heroes, or Throne of Gods which exists outside?"

"Yeah."

"Wait - there's one of them !" Arrow, complete with a heart-shaped head like what might be expected from a magical girl show, to string, Euryale began to draw her bow.

"I wonder why having conversations seems to draw their attention," Gudao mused as, wildly spiraling though the air, a pink streak reached out before exploding against the wyvern, sending the beast plummeting towards the ground. The Servants immediately began making haste towards where it was likely to crash.

l

(Halls of Chaldea)

(Gudako)

"Georgios, if you could?" she asked the knight, who, immediately understanding her intention, left to escort Sasaku and Kiyohime to the latter's room. It was always better to have someone on hand in case of another Kiyohome incident. To prevent one, rather.

"Yeah, I'll probably get some tea," Gudako said while dismissing the other two Rulers to their own affairs.

"Oh, Master? If you were thinking of tea, perhaps I might have some time to spare for a drink with you."

Turning around, she was already frowning at the overly smooth goddess addressing her. No, she didn't like Medusa's sisters much, and Stheno probably the less. They had a... condescension or disdain for others that rubbed her the wrong way. Of course, they claimed it was what humans expected - even wanted - from the perfect idol, as though such an explanation would hold meager weight with any homunculus, Master or not.

Humans want many things that are positively terrible for them anyway.

"You know that Servants don't eat with the others for safety reasons," she corrected her. "If you're bored because your sister is Rayshifting, have tea with Marie."

"I was just trying to be friendly," she pouted lazily, inching closer in what might have been intended to be an inviting manner. "It isn't every day one meets a goddess just walking down the corridor -"

"Ahem." After making such an exaggerated entrance, the grizzled pirate who had appeared behind her pretended to be trying to act inconspicuous. "Don't mind me."

"Hmph." Making an upset face, Stheno beat a hasty retreat as Blackbeard swaggered in their direction.

"Her Charm skills only work on males," Gudako reminded him. Though the look on the other Servant's face was rather worth it.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Chaldea's second summoned Archer shrugged. "Not on female Servants certainly - compatibility. But humans and," he gestured in her direction, "homunculi are at a lower level and might be affected."

"Saint Graphs are generally level restricted while in Chaldea," she mused. "But you might have a point. Then again, there's tons of wards on everything I have on."

"A sensible precaution," he rumbled, taking out a bottle of spirits. "Drink? It's odd that these are safe, unlike the food that comes back from Rayshifts."

"You rascal," she frowned, shaking her head. "What was I just saying about that? I hope you're not encouraging people to get drunk around here; we have enough problems as is."

"I was just bored, you know Kojirou doesn't like this type of alcohol and the girls seem determined to find fault with whatever I bring out. Well, Mary does anyway." The pair started walking towards the training area, which was constructed like a connected series of vaults.

"I take it that Scathach went right back to training when da Vinci let her loose?" Gudako asked casually.

"She did. We actually played a bit of a game where she'd throw a spear, and I would try to hit it before it reached her target." Grinning, he pulled out one of his flintlock pistols and twirled it around for dramatic effect.

"Come on, you know 'no weapons in the corridors'," she grumbled, knowing that it was a better way to affect his behavior, misbehavior rather, than getting angry or confrontational about it.

"I certainly should," he chuckled, sending the firearm back into his Inventory. "I heard that the new Servant is also pretty good at throwing spears."

Oh? Wonder why he cares about her. "What's all this about?"

"Word in the tavern is there's a boy thinks he's claimed her, and not the nicest one. We pirates know full well that the strong take what they want, so? Servants are part of their Masters' strength. Just a saying I heard."

Gudako blinked in surprise as the whiskey was thrust into her hands, the original owner quickly moving away before she could return it. "Blackbeard, what gives?"

"Getting drunk wastes the good stuff, so take it slow, share it with your brother," was his reply instead. "Oh, I don't get drunk anymore, so that's why I drink whenever."

"We're not actually related," she pointed out, seeing that he wasn't about to be straight with her, but he simply waved goodbye while striding into the training area. Of course, he made sure to take out a pair of pistols before actually entering, drawing a frown from the homunculus stationed there to prevent people from wandering into the dangerous zone.

l

"Whoa !" Martha exclaimed as she was tripped. However, the Ruler recovered quickly, driving back her opponent with her own legsweep. Granted, it didn't actually connect, but her objective was more along the lines of making some space to reset the engagement.

"You're still sloppy in the grapple," Scathach commented, watching her take another stance. "Weapons tend to be an equalizer, so your statistical advantages should be greater in hand-to-hand."

"I would've thought that the statistics would count for less, actually." Mary paused as the occasional sound of guns being fired in the adjacent range interrupted her. "But while the (Jacob's Limbs) technique works best against Demons, Divines or Undead... it wouldn't be a weakness otherwise, would it?"

"No, but if you were used to being undeflectable, it might throw you off when you weren't anymore. Besides, Servants can be pretty far up the power ladder."

The pirate frowned as the guns went off again. "It sure is weird, how these things work. For being an Archer, he's more accurate with pistols than Anne with a rifle. Because we're a Rider - though we don't get a ship and he does."

"I'll say," broke in da Vinci, rolling out from the range with a mundane gun and a few Mystic Codes in her arms. "It's quite mystifying how these things work. I myself seem able to improve on a standard gun's accuracy even when the weapon should be the limiting factor rather than the shooter."

"Is that just one of the rifles the homunculi carry on patrol?" Looking at it with interest, Mary walked over to the other Servant to look at the gun.

"I've been wondering why you don't even carry a single pistol," Blackbeard commented from behind the two as he and Anne exited the range. "Just that one shot can make a lot of difference in any given action. And we get free reloads or swaps now."

"You might get those, but I don't think every Servant would," da Vinci said while handing over her weapon. "For that matter, I'm not sure what determines Anne's reload time; it's shorter than actually reloading, but not like swapping to a loaded gun as you do."

"Cooldown timer, basically." Anne was resting the mentioned weapon on her shoulder. "That's why it's troublesome to use outside of the super-accurate single shot during our joint technique. It seems like Mary's got the greater share of power in our Spirit Origin."

"If we were an Archer, you'd probably be able to do something dumb like rapid-firing a single-shot rifle," Mary grumbled, mostly upset for her partner's sake.

"I'd drink to that," Blackbeard chuckled. "Would be more exciting to watch, at least."

"I've been wondering, how many Quantum Pieces worth of magical energy does it take to make a bottle of that, anyway?" da Vinci was more interested in the data than drink itself, of course.

"Not much if I drink it," the old pirate replied seriously. "Since it just goes back into my Spirit Origin. It isn't a Noble Phantasm or Skill, so the cost is pretty low, enough so that I can't really tell. The real limitation is that I can only have one bottle to hand, trying to take out another just causes the first to return to Inventory or something."

"Odd as it might be for me to say this; that's probably better for public morals," Mary shrugged. "And that's before we get to your choice of drink."

"I'm surprised you still think that, after seeing all the types he has in there," Anne giggled. "Don't tell me - is it because the World is stupidly inflexible about these things whenever a Servant looks even slightly on the young side?"

"We're a single Servant though."

"Your record still shows two sets of height and weight data," da Vinci reminded Mary. "Uh, granted they don't usually show age, now that I think of it. Sometimes it makes me wonder what the Throne even records."

"Either it or the World cheats heavily, I'm pretty sure," Caster suggested, apparently having finished her sparring with Martha. "Don't read too much into whatever records you happen to have; it is most likely that you always get the ones matching whoever you summoned. Which is not necessarily who the actual exemplar Heroic Spirit is - if they're even an actual person to begin with, of course."

"That was your guess on the relative inefficiency of Chaldea's Fate summoning system, yes? Having to search a much larger space of potential Servants than if we were located within a branch which would significantly narrow the relevant range."

"Mhm. Though that is compounded with the need to use super-high density Saint Quartz, rather than the more standard Mana Prism crystals. We're stuck in a race between adding energy and managing the resulting instabilities which further reduces efficiency."

"I've been wondering about those," Mary asked suddenly. "Nowadays magi can make jewels?"

"Oh, uncharged Mana Prisms are basically like what humans can create nowadays with technology," the group's inventor informed her. "So yes, they're jewels, rated to around 10,000 QP as standard, so a hundred times what we considered a minimal amount of magical energy that would still be useful. The Saint Quartz are odder, as you can tell by looking at them. Like the Jeweled Swords, they are basically larger on the inside due to having a fractal crystalline structure that extends outside the local space. Though they are smaller, each is typically rated in the millions, but they're not consistent. Oh, construction alone burns tens of millions of QP worth though."

"Didn't really need a lecture," the pirate mumbled, interest lost somewhere halfway. "Anne, let's go eat; there should be new supplies when the Rayshift finishes."

"I should return this gun to the armory," da Vinci volunteered, seeing that the conversation was over. She added a tag to the weapon, marking it for further tests, before leaving.

"Anyone for a drink?" Blackbeard offered. Martha, looking annoyed, shook her head and left.

"Eh, she has to watch the new girl," the ruler of the Land of Shadows said soothingly. "And I think she has no taste for spirits, more of a fruit of the vine saint."

"How does an Irish tongue find it?" he quipped, taking out a bottle with an Irish label on it.

"That brand's a knock-off, isn't it?"

"What?!"