The abomination was naked save for the bandages that covered its extremities and the still-fresh wounds from the process of appendage grafting. However, it was not alive, not yet.

The mad scientist stroked its cheek, the cheek he had obtained from the corpse of the daughter of the town blacksmith. He caressed its arm, the arm he had separated from the corpse of a woman who had died of a brain tumour. He knew every single one of their names, every single one of their faces.

To bring about mankind's ultimate good, he had to commit the unspeakable evil of disturbing the remains of the dead, but he had no regrets. To forget their faces and names would just be just as unforgivable as the act of robbing their graves itself.

It was justified. He was justified. Even if it was a crime, it was a victimless crime. He would bring about the master race, HE would be the one to usher in the new age of humanity.

"My magnum opus.. God himself would be jealous of my work.. Only a few more parts left and you will be ready.."

"My beautiful Eve. My.."

"MASTER!"

Charles jerked awake from the dream of the dark laboratory to the harsh sight of the sun rising over the hills. His head was resting on the frills of.. He turned his head slightly and found himself staring into the eyes of the girl he recognised to be his Servant. One the deepest blue, the other the palest yellow.

"Sa..ber..?"

Saber's worried expression broke into a relieved smile. "You're awake, Master."

Charles had already closed his eyes again and turned over. His brow furrowed in concentration, abandoning his sense of sight to hone in on his sense of touch. "This firmness.. It's definitely reminiscent of a human, not an automaton. What percentage of you is organic matter, Saber? At the least, it's enough to create an authentic-seeming 'lap pillow' experience."

Saber cocked her head, her reddish-pink hair swaying in the breeze as she looked down at him somewhat concernedly. "These questions are... random, Master. Are you... ok?"

Charles yawned. "I do. I feel a bit better now, but.. That overwhelming pressure. What was that?"

"I.. don't know," Saber admitted. "I'm... a Servant. Composed, structured differently. What affects your doesn't affect me. But it was... still an anti-human attack. Good chance I could have fallen apart right there."

"Is that so..?" Charles asked. He extended a hand out to Saber, who flinched, covering her face with her hands. The frightened reaction was enough to give him pause. She didn't seem to like being touched any more than he did.

"Thank you for taking the initiative, Saber," he said carefully. " I feel so well rested, too. That lap pillow was truly top class. But tell me. Are you okay? You said the attack didn't affect you, but your speech seems to be inhibited somewhat. With your Madness Enhancement at such a low degree... Well, that aside, you were speaking fluently last night. Is everything alright?"

Saber stared at him for a moment before nodding vigorously. "Everything is fine, Master. I am 100% operational." She seemed to think hard for a moment. "Energy conservation is... important, in a Holy Grail War. Mana used to stimulate certain centers of the brain is... unnecessary. Conversational speech is... unnecessary. Last night was an exception. Lots of excess mana," she explained, pointing to the finns on her ears. "No longer the case." The girl massaged her throat. "I am not used to speaking this much."

Charles shrugged. "Very well then, Saber. As long as it doesn't impede on your combat performance. In any case, I have a nasty feeling that attack wasn't just meant for me. I told Flat I wouldn't see him until the War was over, but we should check back in at the Clock Tower to confirm our suspicions. Ah, Saber, I know it's not the most energy efficient strategy, but I would like you to walk around with me during the day. The Noble Phantasm you still have - your Bridal Chest, it still seems to be present in the ways that matter. You'll be able to convert solar and wind into energy you can use to maintain your corporeal form without putting a strain on me. I must insist, actually."

Saber nodded. "Yes, Master."

"That being said..." Charles sat up and looked her up and down. "It would draw undue attention if you walked around like that in 21st century London. We may have to adjust your style, Saber."

"...?"

"Master, are you sure about this?"

"Of course!" Charles called out from the outside of the changing room.

The Saber Servant parted the curtains shyly, and at Charles' request, Saber twirled around, showing her new outfit off. It was an odd twist on the gothic lolilta style, black all the way down with green lacing at the hems. Wrapped around one of her thighs was a frilly green bow. Her metallic platforms had been replaced with more normal pumps, and her metallic horn and finns had seemingly vanished. She looked, for all intents and purposes, like a completely normal, albeit slightly taller than average, young woman.

Charles grinned. "You're dressed to kill, Saber."

"Dressed to...? How do these clothes make an impact on combat parameters?"

The young mage frowned. "No- Saber, it's-" He shook his head. "Nevermind. How did you...?" he gestured to the corresponding spot on his forehead where her horn used to be.

Saber crossed her arms, giving him the withering look of a woman whose partner had forgotten something extremely obvious. She pointed to her head and uttered a single word.

"Modular."

The Master-Servant pair made their way to the Clock Tower.

Something was off about London today, though. The shopping pseudo-date had set the bar high for the day, but the streets of London were emptier than they should've been. Everyone seemed... depressed. No- Drained.

"Master.. What happened to you last night.. It seems like it happened to everyone here. Something is wrong..." Saber said in a hushed tone. While such a statement would've normally drawn a sarcastic comment from the mage, he was too deep in thought to consider it.

"I agree. As twisted as it is, I have a feeling that it's only thanks to the Bounded Field over London that everyone is forced to continue their day like normal. Still.. Ah, we're getting off here."

The bus stopped right in front of the British Museum, the entrance of the Mage's Association's headquarters, but Charles still had one last thing to do before he went in.

"Wait."

The British Museum towered high above them, but Charles held his hand to stop Saber's entry.

"No Servants beyond this point, that's an absolute rule. Wait for me out here, Saber."

Saber's expression turned dark.

"You're going on your own? Master-"

"That's an order, Saber." Charles gave her a patient smile. "I still have an important job for you. Hold out your hand."

"...?" Saber held an outstretched palm out to her Master, who put a familiar vial full of mercury in it.

"I'll be back before you know it. In two minutes, open the vial. It'll take care of the rest."

While she didn't seem to understand, the Servant still obeyed.
"Understood, Master."

She sat on the steps that led up to the entrance, and after he was satisfied that she wouldn't move from that spot, Charles went inside.

The entrance hall of the Clock Tower was in complete disarray. Barrier sigils barred his access until an administrator's exhaustive identity verification procedure was satisfied that he wasn't a threat. The Command Seals on his back drew a raised eyebrow from the checkpoint mage, but they said nothing. The day before, the university/research center/command node was only barely populated by pockets of students roaming the halls between classes and the odd staff member accompanied, but today the hallways were a sea of mages of all ages and ranks. He'd never seen so many of his own kind in one place at once.

'Tch. I don't know anyone here. What the hell is going on?'

Through the crowd, Charles spotted a familiar head of gold straw hair.

"Flat!

The boy- it was Flat, Charles was relieved to see, turned and grinned, waving at him before he jogged over.

"Charlie, you're back! You remembered your promise- Wait, is the Holy Grail War already over? That was quick."

Charles shook his head. "Afraid not. Your professor still around?"

Flat nodded. "Yeah, but he's super busy. Something happened while I was asleep and everyone's going nuts over it. Here, carry these and walk and talk," he said, dumping a large box full of magical instrumentals into Charles' hands.

"Y-You what?! Fine, quickly, though."

"I thought it was implied that I didn't want to see you until the conclusion of the War," Lord El-Melloi II sighed. "And here you are… for what purpose exactly? Classes are cancelled today, but I'm still busy. Two students died last night in the middle of an exam, and the Lord Archelot has already dumped all of his administrative duties on me while he's away. I am quite bysy."

"That's what I wanted to talk about, Lord. All of London was hit by a high-grade psychic attack last night at once. If that's going to happen again, I need to know. If it was the Clock Tower's fault, I need to know even more."

El-Melloi II chuckled, and Charles frowned in response. "What's so funny?"

"You don't watch the mortal news a lot, do you, Yaranes?" El-Melloi II asked.

"You don't mean to say.."

El-Melloi II nodded. "Indeed," he said, procuring a flat metal tube from inside his ceremonial sleeves. He pushed a button, and a flatscreen television emerged from the wall. Charles figured the mortal invention wouldn't be found anywhere else in the Clock Tower, but he was grateful that El-Melloi II was so progressive. Immediately, he recognized three major nationalities- Chinese, American, and African. If his language education was still up to par, they were all saying the same thing.

"A worldwide phenomenon. The only fatalities seem to have occured in London and the surrounding areas, but that in itself isn't a good sign. The Britainian major leyline was majorly abused in three different points last night at around the same time, so the prevailing theory is-"

"-That a Servant is responsible." Charles finished.

"Indeed. We were going to track down the known Masters and... question them individually, but since you're here..""

The door slammed behind Charles by itself and before he could blink, he soon found a scythe at his throat. The girl who had been standing behind the Lord the previous day stared him down with her icy-blue eyes that didn't betray any feeling. She held the scythe deadly still. Charles had to force a chuckle.

"Now, now, Lord. Let's not jump to conclusions," he said as loud as he could without moving.

"Jumping to conclusions is half of all detectivework, and the severity of this incident leaves me no time to question the 'whydunnit.' Is your Servant responsible for last night's phenomenon?"

Charles shook his head. "No! I was successful in summoning Saber! She's outside right now, the girl in the black dress with the pink hair!"

Silence.

"I swear on my name! On my mother's name!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw that the flatscreen was now displaying a security feed of the outside of the Clock Tower. Runes danced across the screen, before plain English flashed bright red.

REMOTE SAINT GRAPH DESIGNATION: SABER

El-Melloi II sighed. "Down, Gray. He's not the Master we're looking for."

The scythe retracted, and soon after did Gray.

"We're working on establishing more countermeasures in London's Bounded Field, but.. We don't know if it'll hold up against what is probably a Caster class Servant. As they say, a quick War's a good War. Make sure you use Saber to get it over and done with without any more public incidents, Charles."

Charles nodded. "Of course, Lord."

When Charles left the Clock Tower, Saber bounded up the steps to meet him halfway. "Master. Are you unharmed?"

Charles gave her a reasurring smile. "Of course. We're all friends here. For a few days, at.. Least…"

Saber raised an eyebrow, as her Master seemed to be looking straight past her. She turned around to see a slightly younger boy staring up at the two of them. He gave off an almost identical vibe to Charles - the same formal attire, the same superior vibe. Where her master had a certain degree of kindness, however, this younger one was different. Hard. The dark circles under his eyes only added to the scowl. She didn't know why, but she had a bad feeling about him.

Charles spoke first. "Hey, little brother. What brings you here?"

James Yarenes laughed. "Charlie! What brings you here? Mother send you to support me in the War?"

Charles hesitated. "Not… exactly."

James' eyes went wide as he fully processed Saber's existence. "You couldn't be.. No.. No! You can't have!" he screeched, running up the steps.

"She's a- You were one of the three Masters!"

Charles gritted his teeth. He always hated being lectured by his younger sibling.

"What the hell are you doing, Charlie?! You! Servant!"

Saber jumped. "Y-Yes?"

James displayed the Command Seals on his right hand, three hands reaching outwards from the centre of his palm.

"You are property of the Yarenes Clan, yes? Contract with me!"

Charles kept up his poker face, but Saber looked genuinely offended. "Master. Your relative is suffering from brain damage. I suggest you seek medical attention on his behalf."

"That's a little harsh, Saber! But... James, seriously? You've obviously already summoned your own Servant." Charles dropped his voice down low, advancing towards his younger brother.
"And we both know the catalyst that you took. The assurance of Servant quality that was handed to you on a platter, along with everything else Father gave you. Let me put it simply for you, little brother."

Charles was grateful for the extra foot of height that let him loom over his younger brother.

"If you ever ask me for anything ever again, I'll rip my Magic Crest off of your back myself."

The threat seemed to sink in, but James quickly regained his composure. "Well," he scoffed. "Servant, whoever you are. Your Master himself would've admitted himself that pound-for-pound, he's an inferior magus to I. The offer, of course, remains until proper combat begins, in 24 hours. I suggest you choose wisely, to give yourself the best chance at making your wish on the Holy Grail."

"A wish on the Holy Grail..." Saber echoed. She shook her head. "Master is my Master. That will not change."

Charles felt like that was all that needed to be said. "Get out of here, James. Mum says hi, just so you know."

James looked like he was ready to throw a punch. "Move out of my way, Charlie. And savour the time you have with your Servant while you can. Her days are numbered."

With that, he stormed off into the Clock Tower. Charles stayed silent. Saber placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "Master..." she began. The act seemed to startle Charles to attention. With a jerk of his wrist, a large puddle of liquid mercury came leaping into Saber's arms. Volumen Hydrargyrum melted back into the vial, revealing that it was carrying a large number of magical instruments inside itself.

"Sorry, Saber. I haven't been a hundred percent forthcoming with you," Charles said sheepishly, now seemingly back to normal. "I didn't come to the Clock Tower for a chat. I came to get some tools we'll need to build your Noble Phantasm. A few tools I.. let's say, didn't have the needed capital to acquire with the Association's blessing. In other words, we should probably run for it before they realise they're missing."

Charles had rented out an apartment in the West End of London to act as his Workshop for the duration of the war. Apparently the Caster Class was known for its skill of Territory Creation, but for his relatively modest requirements, he could call it home for a while.

"What... are we doing, Master?"

"Why Saber, improve upon my previous design, of course," he replied, showing her the same blueprints he had used as a catalyst for her summoning.

"Maybe I was a little… mistaken for thinking the Holy Grail would conjur up an original Noble Phantasm to, so I'll just have to make one myself. With some spit and elbow grease, we just might make this work."

Charles had forgone his usual formal dress for a work smock that reminded Saber a little too much of a certain scientist she knew.

"Let's see if Miracles still exist in this world."