"Commander?" Looking up at Anis, I find a six pack of soda in her hands. "Let's drink, okay?"
Setting it down in front of me, I stare at the offered drinks for a few moments. Feeling the patiently waiting Anis continue to stare at me, I accept the offered drink with a mumbled, "Thanks."
Taking a sip, the sweetened cherry taste hits my taste buds.
"You know, what you did back in the court was pretty stupid, Commander. You're lucky that you got off with an even more extended suspension." Anis points out, and doesn't bother mincing her words. "But, It was really cool too. I'm sure the others feel the same too."
"...Anis, if you're trying to console me…It isn't working." I respond, finishing the drink with a bitter and sour taste in my mouth. "It was my inadequacy as both a Commander and a Master that got us here, so don't make it seem like it's not."
"...Dumbass." Anis insults me, to which I can't blame her. "Commander, think for a moment. In an unprecedented situation like that, none of us can blame you on your ability, or rather, inability to command us. Especially, considering you're still wet behind the ears."
"...Doesn't matter much now, does it?" I ask, the empty void in my heart reappearing. "Nothing could change what's already happened…Rapi, Artoria…Marian." Looking away, I stare at the mountain of paperwork cruelly given to me after the court "hearing".
"...Tsk. Yeah, you're absolutely right. Then, I guess we should all just give up and die, huh?"
Slam!
I was alone again, with only my self deprecating thoughts to accomp-
"You would allow a weapon to act as such? Where is that defiance from before?" With Morgan's reappearance, the horrible body heat recedes into a slightly tamed state. Though, with an arm now wrapped around my neck, I didn't quite feel too much of a difference.
"What is it, Morgan?" I ask, no longer in the mood to speak with her, or anyone for that matter.
"How cruel…Can't a queen worry for her husband?" Feeling her other arm snake around into my dress shirt, I grab hold of both her arms and remove them from myself without her resisting.
"If you're just here to bother me, then don't. I'm busy." Letting go of her, I notice the smirk on her face.
"Cute. Then, tell me. Why are your hands shaking, Commander?"
Blinking in shock, now in Morgan's place was… "R-Rapi?" Reaching out to her, she takes my hand into both of hers.
"Yes, it's me, Commander." With a small smile on her face, she averts her eyes shyly as a red hue appeared. "Thank you for back in the court, Commander. It meant the world to me when you stood up for me." She thanks me wholeheartedly, yet… "I…I love you, Commander. " It was all so fake.
"... That's enough." I respond, much to her own surprise. Grasping onto her hand, I pull the disguised Morgan out of my room. "Don't come back if you're just going to bother me." Feeling a slight burning sensation on the back of my hand, I ignore it and slam the door in her face.
Feeling the heat in my body start to rise again, I fall back on to the dated office chair. Reaching for a report paper, I notice the now faded mark on my hand, with two others still in place.
"–teel be the essence.
Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall..?
Let the four cardinal gates open.
I hereby declare.
Your body shall serve under me.
My fate shall be your sword.
Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail
If you will submit to this will and this reason…Then please answer.
An oath shall be sworn here.
I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven.
I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell."
Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. Whether it was because of my spotty recollection of the actual chant, or some other reason, I was unfortunately unable to summon a ser-
"Master, it's bad!" Stopping to stare at me, Neon's panic is replaced by confusion. "Master?
I probably look really strange with my hand out like that. "...Neon? What happened?"
"...It's Syuen."
Command Center, Entrance
"What took you?!" Staring down at the Missilis Ceo, I keep myself in check. "Tsk! Whatever. What matters is that the Central Government is still unaware of what happened on the surface. And, at the very least, now I know you can find Chatterbox."
"...Hold on. How do you know we found him?" Anis asks, which doesn't surprise me.
"Huh? I just extracted…What's her name again? Oh, right…I extracted Mihara's memories for that. She won't remember much about it now, but it doesn't matter. Anyway, I was thinking in two day-"
"No." I refuse, clenching both of my fists.
"Hah? Did you forget who I am? I could easily plant some evidence on y-"
"I don't care. Do what you want." I respond to her threats unfazed.
"...These Nikke under your command will be scrapped once word gets ou-ack!" In a sudden movement, a knee is buried deeply into Syuen's gut.
Staring at the one responsible in surprise, they turn to face me with their signature salute. "Intruder down. Awaiting further orders, Commander." She winks.
"Argghh…Wha…Wha…" Syuen struggles from the ground, in massive amounts of pain.
"Rapi..?" I'm unable to further question her as Syuen snarls nastily from the ground.
"Ack-You…Won't get…agh-away with this! Do you have any…fu-fucking clue who I am?!"
"Of course she wouldn't, buffoon. She had her memories erased, didn't she?" Morgan suddenly adds, much to everyone's surprise, my own included. Though, her sudden appearance only put further fear into the Ceo.
"...It won't happen again, Syuen. Will it, Rookie?" Now catching on to what's happening, Anis also adds her own two cents.
"...Is this someone you know? Apologies, I was under the assumption of this being an unwanted intruder." Turning back to Syuen, Rapi smiles unapologetically. "Apologies, once again."
"You…Tsk. Bastards!" Barely standing on her feet, Syuen leaves at an agonizing slow pace through the front door, which was held open by…Magic, I think.
With just us left, I let out a large sigh. "You guys actually just did that…Wow." I remark, before looking back at Rapi. "...Do you…still remember us, Rapi?" I ask, unable to stop myself from asking for any longer.
"Yes, I do." She confirms. "I'm sorry for taking so long, Commander." Pulling her into a hug, I do what I couldn't before.
"I'm sorry." I apologize.
"Commander?" Separating after a few more seconds, I feel the others' stares on me.
"Who knew the Commander was so emotional?" I hear Anis say, much to my own embarrassment.
"I think it's great that he's in touch with his emotional side, it shows how mature Master truly is. As expected of my Firepower Sensei."
"You could at least stick to one name, you know?"
"I disagree. Such emotions are a weakness." Morgan cuts in, unimpressed with my display.
"Yeah? And who asked you?" Anis retorts.
Before Morgan can say, or do anything, there is a knock at the freshly closed door.
"Delivery!"
"Commander? Did you order something?" I hear Rapi ask from beside me, to which I shake my head at, confused.
"Centi! We're not delivering anything idiot!" Approaching the door curiously, I open up to see the argument now occurring between the two strangers.
"We're here on official business, by the Deputy Chief, not some pizza delivery!" The one on the right says, her frame petite and facing away from me.
The other one was facing my direction, and had noticed my presence. "Uh…Liter? Behind you." She points at me, which gains the attention of her shorter companion.
"Huh?" Now facing me, I now notice the… (robot?) dog at her side. "Oh, you're the Commander in charge of the Outpost, right?" The dog just sits there staring at me curiously. "Hello?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, Yeah. I'm a Commander." I answer.
"About as scatterbrained as Centi, huh?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" So she's Centi? She certainly gives me airhead vibes.
"Hm…Come on in." They didn't look or feel like bad people, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Once inside, the shorter of the two…two and a dog, makes note of the disrepair in the Dorms. "It wouldn't have hurt to clean, you know."
"It was worse when we first arrived." I comment, as I let them sit in the only available seats.
"Commander? Who are they?" Neon asks curiously, which most of the others hold the same sentiment.
Before they, or even I can reply, Rapi gives us an answer. "They are Liter and Centi, of Mighty Tools. A squad known for its architecture and construction throughout the Ark. They are also Missilis Nikke."
"We're not here on Missilis' orders if that's what you're thinking, despite them being our manufacturers, we mostly do jobs for the Central Government. This one being no different. We are here today, and until the foreseeable future to help rebuild the Outpost. Chief Andersen's orders." The now introduced Liter explains.
"Andersen sent you? That's…surprising." Considering the harsh scolding that I got from him, I didn't expect for him to send help, especially so soon. "When will you both begin?"
"Huh? We can't begin without some workers first." Liter responds.
"...You didn't bring any yourselves?" Rapi asks, obviously confused.
"No? Wait, you guys don't have anyone prepared?" Centi asks, surprised.
'Great. Misunderstandings.' I sarcastically think to myself.
Bzzt!
Feeling the vibration in my pocket, I open up my phone to a message from the man himself.
Andersen:
I'm assuming you've met Mighty Tools, along with the construction crew?
Me:
Liter and Centi? Sure. No sign of the crew though.
Andersen:
…I see.
After a while, I received another message.
Andersen:
They'll be arriving at the elevator soon, be sure to be there to meet them. Do try to stop them from destroying the elevator, if possible.
Me:
What?
I don't get a response, which only worries and confuses me further.
"Greenhorn, what's with the look? Did something happen?" A nickname? So soon?
"Uh…Our construction crew will be arriving soon, and we should probably go meet them." I respond, unsure of what to say. "Be…uh, prepared?"
Elevator
Tense. That's probably the word I'd use in this situation.
Our construction crew was without a doubt tense, for what reason? I haven't the faintest clue.
They consisted of three groups, five iDoll Sun units, five Product 23 units, and five Soldier FA units. At least according to Liter, and I didn't see a reason to doubt her at this point.
"What were they thinking?" I hear Anis mutter from behind me.
Looking over the crew, I notice their attention on me. "Hello?" I wave awkwardly, which doesn't help much.
"Greenhorn, we won't get any work done like this. Same model Nikkes don't get on too well when paired together, and that's bound to get in the way of our construction process." Liter explains to me.
"That's…not good." Looking back at the large group of Nikke, an idea comes to mind. "Rapi, stand over there." I point to a spot a couple meters away.
"...Understood." It doesn't take long for her to complete my orders.
"For the Nikkes that have just arrived, I'd like for one of each of you to join Rapi over there." I continue this process, until there are five different teams under each "named" Nikke.
"I hope you can forgive us for this oversight (Not caused by us). Thankfully, you will all have a room to yourselves, so don't worry. Thank you all for coming." Most of their grievances are put aside, and they're more comfortable to be in the groups they are in now.
"Perhaps, you aren't so bad of a spouse after all." Morgan remarks, as it's now just us two.
"Just because I haven't said anything, doesn't mean I have forgotten about what you did today, Morgan. Even now, I'm wondering if I should still trust you."
To Be Continued…
Artoria (Saber): Episode 1, The Knight of the Park
"This is…the last of humanity?" I hear Artoria ask from beside me, as we walk out from the elevator from the outpost.
"Yeah…I'm guessing it's a lot different from inglend?" I ask curiously.
"England." Oh. "Yes, it seems humanity will only continue to advance, even on its last legs."
"...Hn." I grunt, not giving her a real response.
"Do you disagree with my sentiments, Master?"
"In a way. No matter what we do, it seems like recapturing the surface isn't getting any closer."
"Then why become a commander?"
"It was…" My response is cut short as we arrive at my destination. "Some other time, here." Handing her my card, I point at the nearby fast food joint. "I'll be busy for a short while, so here's my card. The pin is 1337. Oh, and please don't bankrupt me, we still need to eat tomorrow."
A blush appears on Saber's face, obviously scandalized by my words. "I-I…would never…"
"Of course not, but try to enjoy the most of it. See you."
Returning from my meeting with Andersen, I'm surprised to find the fast food place devoid of my Saber servant. 'Where is she..? Oh, wait.' Remembering Teacher's lessons, I feel for the link between Artoria and I, and soon begin to let it guide me.
Arriving at the central park of the Ark, I'm met with an endearing sight which warms my heart. Artoria holding the hand of a hooded child, looking around curiously.
As our eyes meet, Artoria is suddenly pulled forward by the child at her side. "Teacher!"
Bending my knees, I meet the gaze of N102, or Anne. "Hey, Anne. How have you been?"
"Great! I just met this knight lady!" She says, pointing at Artoria excitedly.
"Is that right?" I grin as she nods. "That knight lady has a name, have you asked for it?"
"No…" She mutters, expecting me to reprimand her.
"It's not too late, she's still here after all." Looking over at Artoria, I notice the faint red hue on her cheeks.
"You're right! Uh, Miss Knight? What's your name?"
"...A-Artoria Penndragon."
To Be Continued…
Hey, Hey, Hey! How does it go, fellow youngsters?
Unsurprisingly, this chapter has been in the works since I first made chapter 4. And it took me 3 months to complete. Great.
A lot less Fate related, and focusing on the Nikke aspect, but that shouldn't be surprising, this is still set in the Nikke world after all.
Also Rapi and Morgan share the same JP VA. Well, Morgan only has a JP VA, not including apoc. A Lil trivia for you all.
To those of you wondering whether the Artoria Bond Episode is Canon or not. Yes'nt. Whose to say really? just enjoy this one and the next 4.
I won't reply to any reviews, cuz…(looks at chapter 4 reviews) yeah.
So, goodbye for now.
