"Fou, kyuu, kyu! Fou fou!"
Still half-asleep, Ritsuka Fujimaru opened his eyes to see the face of a small white furry creature resembling a cross between a squirrel and a small dog sitting on his chest. Judging by the wet spot on his cheek, he could only assume it had been licking him just a moment ago. Before he could close his eyes again and let his fatigue get the better of him, a young woman in a pale coat and a black shirt came running up to him, concern evident in her purple eyes even through her glasses.
"...Umm. Since it's neither morning nor night, please wake up, Senpai."
She sounded rather awkward, he thought to himself as got up and he took in the sights of the blue-tiled hallway he found himself in. Maybe she doesn't talk to people much? "Huh? Who are you?", he asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He could ask why a total stranger was calling him "senpai" later.
"My name?" She hesitated, playing with her lilac hair for a moment before regaining her composure. "That's a hard question to answer suddenly. Maybe I'm not important enough for you to know my name?"
Now he was just confused. "I don't know about that, but I'm sure you have to have some sort of name. It's not like I can just call you "you", right?"
"I mean, I do have a name," the girl replied. "I have a proper name. But I never really get the chance to use it. I'm afraid I don't leave a good first impression…" The girl trailed off, apparently realizing that she had nearly forgotten what she wanted to say. "Sorry, I got sidetracked." She gestured to a couch by one of the pale walls. "Would you like to take a seat?"
"That would be nice. We can keep talking there."
After seeing that Ritsuka was comfortably seated, the girl took a place next to him as the furry creature leapt onto her shoulder.
"You were asleep, but why were you sleeping in the halls?"
The young man scratched his head. "Good question. I can't remember much after the first training simulation. Someone would've noticed if I managed to sleepwalk all the way here, right?"
Before the girl could reply, the creature cried out again.
"Oh, I completely forgot. I still haven't introduced you yet, have I, Fou?" The girl took the creature into her arms before returning her attention to Ritsuka. "This squirrel-like creature is Fou. He's a Privileged Life-Form allowed to freely walk around Chaldea. Fou led me here, and that's how I ran into you, Senpai."
"Fou. Mmkyu, fou!" Without any warning, Fou wriggled out of the girl's grasp and dashed down the hallway. "Don't worry about him," the girl said as they watched Fou run. "He does that sometimes, just runs off like that."
"He doesn't look like any animal I've ever heard of. Maybe he's the only one of his kind," Ritsuka wondered out loud.
"Normally he doesn't go near anyone but me, but he seems to like you, Senpai. Congratulations. You are now the second caretaker of Fou in Chaldea," the girl replied.
It was only then Ritsuka realized something important. "Wait a minute, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru. Would you mind telling me your name now?"
She hesitated for a moment, fidgeting momentarily before finding her voice. "My name is Mash Kyrielight. It's nice to meet you, Senpai." Tentatively, she extended her hand. This is what people do when they meet someone new. And since Senpai seems so kind, I shouldn't be scared, she reminded herself.
After they shook hands, Ritsuka couldn't help but notice how Mash was staring at her hand as if she hadn't quite processed the feeling of his touch upon her. "Um…are you okay? Did I hurt you or something?"
"No," she quickly replied. "It's…just been a while since I met someone new and I wasn't sure if I could remember how to shake someone's hand."
Before Ritsuka could press the matter further, another person approached. "Ah, there you are, Mash. That won't do, you know, wandering about without permission…"
The newcomer was an older-looking man with a sharply pointed nose and long hair that draped around his shoulders in a way that vaguely reminded Ritsuka of a scarf. "Oh, someone's already with you? You're...
I see…You must be a rookie who just got assigned here. I'm Lev Lainur, one of the technicians employed here."
Ritsuka personally thought that it was rather odd for a technician to be going around in a suit and a top hat, but he dismissed the thought along with the strange sense of unease he felt when he looked at Lev for too long. It's probably nothing, he assumed. Just a bit of grogginess, that's all.
"And I'm Ritsuka. It's nice to meet you, Lev."
Lev took out what appeared to be some kind of computer, humming for a moment until it appeared that he found what he was looking for. "Candidate #48, Ritsuka Fujimaru- there you are. Welcome to Chaldea, Ritsuka. I'm glad you're here. I heard you were the last of the public applicants to be selected. So tell me, how long was your training? A year? Six months? Three months?"
"...let's just say that I get the feeling it wasn't nearly long enough," the younger man sheepishly admitted. "If I had to guess, it couldn't have been longer than a couple of hours."
"Oh? So you're a complete amateur, then?" Lev asked. "Now that I think of it, we did call for applicants just so we could fill numbers. But do pardon my lack of consideration. You're every bit as important for this mission as your fellow Master candidates. If there's something you don't understand, feel free to ask Mash or myself anytime…" Lev broke off halfway through, as if he had just realized something important.
"Come to think of it, what were you talking about with him, Mash? That's not like you. Did you know each other before?"
"No, I'd never met Senpai before. I saw Senpai sleeping here, so I just…"
"Sleeping? In the middle of a hallway?" Lev interjected.
"That's what Mash told me, at least," Ritsuka said. "Can't say how I got here, though. I don't really remember anything after the simulation they put me through, not even how well I did."
"That sounds like an ordinary reaction to your first Spiritron Dive," Lev noted. "You must have walked over here before you returned to consciousness."
"Huh, I guess my sleepwalking guess wasn't that far off. There's nothing serious that might've also happened to me from that, right?"
Lev shook his head. "You seem fine to me. But I'm no doctor, so I'd normally suggest you visit the infirmary just in case. But for now you should hurry to the central control room. The Director's orientation for the newbies starts in five minutes. She is not the type to forgive and forget. If you show up late, you'll be on her radar for the entire year at minimum."
"Which way is it?" Ritsuka asked as he and Mash got up, with the growing worry that he might end up on his boss's bad side before he could even do anything.
"Right down this hall. You should hurry," replied the older man. Ritsuka didn't need to be told twice, but as he turned to leave Mash spoke up.
"Dr. Lev, do you think I'll be allowed to sit in on the orientation, too?" she asked.
"Hmm? Well, if you stand way back in a corner, I think she'll look the other way... But why?" Lev didn't seem like he had any problems with it, but for some reason Ritsuka couldn't quite shake the sense that Lev wanted him to just leave already…and not just because he might be late. Again, he shrugged it off as his mind playing tricks on him.
"I just thought I should take Senpai to the Command Room. It's possible that Senpai might fall asleep on the way again," replied Mash.
Ritsuka nodded in agreement. "Having someone I know to show me around would be nice either way. To be honest, I don't know anyone else here."
"I suppose there's no harm in tagging along as well, eh? If you don't have any more questions, we should get to the Command Room."
"Actually, there is one thing I've been wondering," the younger dark-haired man asked. "Why exactly is Mash calling me "senpai"? We just met a little while ago, after all."
Lev gave out a short chuckle. "Oh, don't worry about it. To her, every human your age is her senpai. But it's unusual to hear her actually call someone that. This might be the first time I've heard her ever do it." He turned to the girl walking in front of them. "Why exactly are you calling him 'Senpai' ?"
"The reason? Fujimaru is the most human-like person I've ever met," Mash explained with a smile. "I don't feel threatened. So there's no reason for me to be hostile."
"Huh. Can't say that I understand, but I'll take that as a compliment," Ritsuka said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"It makes sense to me. People at Chaldea are all a real piece of work!" Lev exclaimed with a slight flourish. "In any case, I think you and Mash will get along just fine."
"Doctor Lev, if you like Senpai then the Director will probably hate him...Well, why don't we hide in the restroom to boycott the orientation, then?" Mash asked as she adjusted her tie.
"If she'll be mad at me for being late, then she'll probably be even angrier if I skip the orientation completely," Ritsuka pointed out. "I think it'll be better for me to take my chances and hope for the best."
"Speaking of which, we're at the Central Control Room right now," Lev noted. "Don't be too worried, Ritsuka. When you get to know her, the Director is actually very nice. Just don't tell her I said that, or you'll make her more upset."
Dozens of men and women dressed in the same black-and-white outfit as Ritsuka had taken their assigned seats as Ritsuka arrived, with Mash and Lev closely accompanying him into the blue hued-room. Even without counting himself and what he assumed were his fellow Master candidates, the chamber was a veritable hive of activity, with technicians checking on the strange cylindrical devices that ringed the outside of the room or working on the most advanced computer systems Ritsuka had ever seen. But by far the most striking feature was the elaborate globe-like apparatus at the center of the chamber…as well as the woman in what he thought was some kind of noblewoman's attire standing in front of it.
The Director (or so Ritsuka assumed her to be) didn't look much older than himself, but had an air of authority about her that gave the impression that she was very used to commanding others. Just as noticeable was her silvery-white hair and golden eyes that gleamed with the intensity of a raging inferno.
While she was indisputably pretty, Ritsuka figured that she would likely have looked better had she not been glaring at him in a way that made it clear she had noticed his belated arrival and did not appreciate his tardiness at all. Unfortunately, Mash had informed him that he had been assigned to the front row and the only available space left was directly in front of her.
"Senpai, you're looking a little pale."
"Am I? Fine time to start getting sleepy again…" Ritsuka grumbled, hoping that the increasingly sour look on the face of the silver-haired woman wasn't meant for him specifically.
"It must be from the simulator. I'd take you to the infirmary, but…"
"Cut the chitchat, you two. The orientation is about to start," Lev reprimanded.
Silence quickly spread across the room before the woman began her opening speech.
"This wasn't quite on time, but it looks like everybody's here. Welcome to Chaldea Security Organization. I'm the Director, Olga Marie Animisphere. You have been selected, or discovered, from each nation for your rare talents of Spiritron conversion and magic circuits that will allow you to serve as Masters. I doubt you understand what that means, so for now just know that you will be reborn as cutting-edge mages in an unprecedented fusion of magecraft and science."
Her speech was interrupted by Ritsuka letting out a very poorly timed yawn. She immediately turned to him with a scowl.
"You, the one who came in late. Am I boring you?" If she wasn't angry with me already, she definitely is now, Ritsuka thought with more than a bit of anxiety.
"No, Director! Not at all!", he exclaimed. Against all odds, his words seemed to make Olga relatively calmer.
"Hmph. I should hope so. As I was saying before I was so RUDELY INTERRUPTED, for all your talents you're still just inexperienced rookies standing at the same starting point. Understand that Chaldea is my domain. Family heritage and personal achievements have no meaning here and my orders are absolute. You're all mere tools to protect humanity as far as I'm concerned, nothing more."
Ritsuka was personally fine with that. His "family heritage", for lack of a better term, was that of an obscure, nearly-collapsed bloodline that had viewed the birth of even a merely passable magus like himself as a small miracle. As for personal achievements, he had a good enough grasp of the basics of magecraft along with a few tricks with light he had learned from his family's books, but calling any of that an "achievement" was a stretch.
A noticeable amount of the other Master candidates must have thought differently, at least if the loud complaints from one of them about how the Director was overstepping her bounds were any indication. Needless to say, she was not taking them well.
"Are you all a pack of unruly students?!" she shouted with poorly concealed frustration. "I'm only telling you what's going on right now. If you don't like it, you can leave Chaldea at once. Assuming that you can climb down a snowy mountain 6,000 miles above sea level, at least. So does anyone still want to drop out?"
Nobody said a word.
"Good. Now quit wasting my time. You should be more like him. Obedient, no arguments, no opinions that I haven't asked for."
Ritsuka realized that Olga was pointing at him and redoubled his efforts to stay awake. Unfortunately, it was growing increasingly difficult to ignore how tired he felt; it was already a struggle just to keep his eyes open.
"Today, we at Chaldea will achieve a feat that will surpass even the deeds of the 'Pioneers of the Stars'. We will not simply expand civilization, but protect it and ensure the continuation of all humanity. The observation cyber demon LAPLACE, the Global Environment Model CHALDEAS, the Near Future Observation Lens SHEBA, the Heroic Spirit Summoning System FATE, and the Spiritron Calculation Engine TRISMEGISTUS: with these marvels of science and magecraft combined, we can observe the future of humanity just as our ancestors once observed the stars."
She gestured to the globe behind her. "That is Chaldea's proudest achievement, the Global Environment Model CHALDEAS. A miniature copy of the earth with a replica of the world's soul created with the most advanced magical theories known to us. While its scale is far too great to read individual human minds, we can still use SHEBA to observe what's on the surface. We set CHALDEAS to reflect the earth a century from now, so when we observe it we essentially observe our own future. So long as its light shines, we will know that human civilization will continue."
She paused her lecture for a moment to turn to Lev. "Lev, normalize SHEBA's observation angle."
The top-hatted man adjusted something on one of the nearby machines, and the globe's color grew darker. The white spots that had previously marked the location of human cities, once bright and unmistakable, were now so faint that they were barely visible.
"Six months ago, Chaldeas changed color, and it's become difficult to observe the future. More importantly, the light of human civilization is nearly unobservable. Now, what do you think that might mean?"
One of the other Master candidates awkwardly spoke up. "Um…it means that civilization is gone?"
The director allowed herself a small smile, the first one that Ritsuka or any of the other candidates had seen since they first met her. "Exactly. Human civilization has ceased to exist. This was highly classified, but you must know it in order to understand our situation. Our observations indicate that in the year 2018, the light of humanity vanishes. All our attempts to find a possible cause that might arise in the next three years have failed- no economic collapses, no seismic events or natural disasters, nothing."
"Since then, we've discovered that the reason for the disappearance of the future is not in the present, but the past. We've used LAPLACE and TRISMEGISTUS to review all data for the past 2000 years and discovered an "unobservable zone" that didn't exist in history until 2017."
The globe rotated around until Japan was at its center, then zoomed in on Kyushu to bring an angry red dot into focus. "We have named this region, located in the rural town of Fuyuki City, "Singularity F". It is completely cut off from both the past and the future, like a hole in our temporal axis. To repair this hole and allow the timeline to mend itself, the UN has authorized the use of Rayshifting. A Rayshift transforms a human into Spiritrons, allowing them to enter and alter the past. You alone have magic circuits that can safely handle the Spiritron conversion process."
Olga stopped her lecture again, taking a minute to fix her collar and mercifully not noticing that Ritsuka was slipping in and out of wakefulness. "Your task is to investigate Singularity F, identify its source, and eliminate it. There's no telling what could be waiting for us there, but we have confidence that you can do this. We'll start the first experiment within the hour; our top 8 scorers in Team A will be the first to enter the Singularity and establish a base camp for the rest of you. They're trained warriors who have been active for a month now, so they should be able to handle any unforeseen threats. Meanwhile, Teams B and below will monitor their situation and prepare for their deployment upon Team A's success. Lev, are the Coffins ready?"
"Yes, Director," replied Lev as he finished work on one of the cylinder-shaped apparatuses encircling the Control Room.
"Now register your information with the Klein Coffins, the arks that will send you to the past as spiritrons. There are no spares, so be careful with them."
The Master candidates all dutifully obeyed and proceeded to the machines for registration. All of them except for one.
"What do you think you're doing? Hurry up and-"
She was interrupted by the sound of Ritsuka' snoring.
Everyone else in the room reflexively took a step back as they saw the director shaking with unfettered rage.
"WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT!"
The first thing Ritsuka heard after being woken up by an alarmingly hard slap was his new superior screaming in his ear. The other Master candidates were nowhere to be seen, and apart from her Mash and Lev were the only people left in the room. Both of them had a look of pained sympathy that gave him the impression that this was not the first time she had done something like this.
Oh shit. Of all the ways that this orientation could have gone, this was probably the worst possible outcome.
"I tell the Association that this plan was a Grand Order, the highest possible duty in the world of magecraft, and this is what I get to carry it out?"
"I'm-"
Ritsuka barely got even that word out before the Director interrupted him with another death glare. "Stop talking. What team are you with? Show me your ID right now."
Olga stared at the proffered ID before launching into another tirade. "What the hell is this?! A substandard magus- no, he's practically a civilian- with zero combat experience and the absolute minimum amount of training? Are you kidding me?!"
Ritsuka' only response, for lack of a better word, was stunned silence. So much for a good first impression, he thought. "Lev Lainur!" the director shouted.
"I'm right here, Director," Lev replied as he headed towards them. "Is there a problem?"
Olga's eyelid twitched slightly. "Of course there's a problem! Why is this amateur even here?!"
"Director, he's a chosen Master candidate," Lev pleaded. "He might be inexperienced, but-"
"But nothing!" Olga cut her subordinate off. "Imagine what could happen if something happened to my CHALDEAS and the only one who can do something about it is him. Do you really think he could handle it?" That's strange. Did she sound…worried about me? Ritsuka wondered as he noticed her voice grow softer and less harsh for a moment.
"I'm sure it won't come to that, Director," Lev reassured. "Surely you could give him one chance to prove that he can be useful to you before you do anything hasty?"
Olga thought it over for a moment, furrowing her brow in what could be interpreted as either deep thought or profound irritation. "Ugh, fine. Let Romani handle his training, he needs to do some work for once in his life. And you, just go away before I change my mind."
Ritsuka didn't even have the strength to try to apologize to her again. All he could do was nod and walk off with Lev and Mash.
"Mash, would you kindly take Ritsuka to his room for me? I'd do it myself but I need to make some important preparations for the Rayshift experiment. I'll drop by your room as soon as it's done, all right?"
"Of course, Doctor Lev," Mash replied. "By the way, it's not like you to be quite this kind. Do you know Senpai from somewhere?"
A thoughtful look passed across Lev's face for a moment. "Not exactly. I was just thinking things like eternal rivals and fated encounters are very important."
Ritsuka felt that strange sense of unease again when he heard that, but tried his best to push it out of his mind as he turned to follow Mash to his new room.
They hadn't been walking long when Fou rejoined them, leaping onto Mash's face and scrambling onto her shoulder. "So, does Fou always do that or…"
"Don't worry, Senpai. I've gotten used to it. I think it's his way of showing that he likes you."
As if to agree, Fou jumped from Mash's shoulder to his own. "Fou, fou!"
"See, he's already embraced you as one of his own!" Mash giggled.
"I feel so honored," he said half-jokingly as Mash stopped in front of a nearby door. "I'm guessing this is my room?" She nodded in reply.
"I'd like to stay with you a while longer, but the other members of A Team are probably waiting for me. Fou, make sure to look after Senpai for me."
Fou let out a brief cry, as if he somehow understood what she asked.
"Thank you. I hope we can see each other again soon, Senpai!" Mash gave a quick farewell wave to Ritsuka and Fou as she ran back down the hall, undoubtedly ready to embark on her first mission.
Whatever hopes the young man had of taking a brief nap to clear his head and shrug off any lingering sleepiness were shot down at the sight of the stranger in a labcoat lounging on his bed with a laptop and a slice of cake like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. Judging by the look on his face, he was at least as surprised as Ritsuka was by the latter's arrival.
"Wha- who are you? This is an empty room! It's where I slack off! Who gave you permission to come in?"
"You know I could ask you the same thing, right? Especially since this was supposed to be my room," Ritsuka retorted with just a hint of frustration.
"Your room? Oh, wait a minute…you must have been the last one to show up." A sheepish grin passed over the orange-haired man's face. "You must be Ritsuka, then. Let me introduce myself. I'm the head of the medical department, Dr. Romani Archaman. But everyone calls me Roman, so you can too. Fact is, Roman has a nice ring to it, no? It sounds cool and vaguely sweet."
"Nice to meet you too, Doctor," Ritsuka said as Fou climbed down his shoulder to the floor. Between him and the Director, I'm starting to realize what Lev meant by everyone here being a piece of work, he thought to himself as he scratched his head.
The sudden moving streak of white got the doctor's attention. "Hey, is that the mysterious creature I've heard so much about? Whoa, nice to meet you! Mash told me a lot about him, but I didn't really think he existed... Hey, why don't I teach him some tricks?"
Roman knelt down, presenting one hand to Fou. "Okay, shake. If you do it well, I'll give you a treat."
Fou simply gave him a pitying look and climbed right back on Ritsuka' shoulder. "I don't think he likes you," the younger man noted.
The doctor's disappointment seemed to vanish almost as soon as it showed up. "W-well anyway, I was just about to get some tea. Do you want any, Ritsuka?"
About a half hour later or so, Ritsuka and Roman finished up the last of their tea. The younger man took a moment to make one last adjustment to the new communicator Roman had picked up with his tea for him and marveled once again at his new gift.
The wristwatch-like device could apparently be used to contact other Chaldean staff members even across different timelines using a complex mixture of magecraft and bleeding-edge technology, or so he had been told by the doctor. Ritsuka had been quite grateful for the unexpected gift, but Roman had initially insisted that he didn't need to be paid back for it. "Well, I guess you could keep it a secret that I was here instead of the infirmary so the Director doesn't yell at me again," he had finally relented with a small grin. Ritsuka accepted, of course. It was the least he could do for his new friend.
For someone who seemed like he barely put effort into doing much of anything, the doctor had proven to be a surprisingly good listener as Ritsuka told him about his ill-fated time at the orientation. Meanwhile, Fou was curled up on the bed watching the two men get to know each other better.
"You got thrown out by the director too? That's exactly what happened to me! The Coffins are more accurate at reading the vitals of the magi within them than I am, so I figured nobody would mind if I took a quick break. But then she told me "When you're here, Romani, everyone slacks off! If you've got nothing to do, then leave!" So I've been sulking here until a little while ago."
"Which is when I showed up. Well, since we don't have much else to do right now until this Rayshift experiment or whatever it's called is all finished up, we may as well stay here and hang out a little longer. I could use the company of a friend while I get settled in," Ritsuka suggested. He had asked him about getting the training Olga mentioned started, but Roman had suggested that they hold off on it to ensure that there weren't any more aftereffects from his first simulation.
"Neat, that means I'm visiting a friend's room! Woo hoo! I've made a new friend!" Roman whooped with the sort of exuberance typically seen in a young child opening a long-awaited Christmas present.
His celebration was cut short by the sound of his communicator ringing, followed by the appearance of a holographic image of Lev. "Romani, we're going to start the Rayshift soon. Could you come in case there's an emergency? The A Team's in perfect condition, but some members of B Team on down are displaying some slight abnormalities. It could just be anxiety, but we can never be too cautious in delicate situations like these."
"Got it. I feel bad for them, so I'll get them some anesthetic."
"Yeah, hurry up, will you? If you're in the infirmary, then you can get here in two minutes. Oh, and the director wanted me to tell you that you had better not be hiding away somewhere again."
"No, not slacking at all! I'll be right there!" Roman nervously laughed as he shot a pleading glance to Ritsuka not to say anything that might give him away.
"Lev's going to be upset when he realizes that you're actually five minutes away, isn't he?" Ritsuka asked as he and Roman finished cleaning up.
"He's not nearly as high-strung as the Director, I'm pretty sure he'll understand," Roman responded, trying to hide the fact that he wasn't actually sure if this was the case. "Lev helped build SHEBA, you know? I'm not sure if the director mentioned this, but it's basically a telescope that observes CHALDEA for us. It's also our facility's main security system."
"He sounds like a pretty smart guy. Did he make the rest of the Rayshifting tech, too?" Ritsuka asked.
"Actually, no. The previous director designed the main summoning/unsummoning system and TRISMEGISTUS was provided to us by the Atlas Academy. Honestly, it's a little daunting if you ask me- all these different talents just make me feel out of place. But if the Director wants me to go, then I have to go. It was nice chatting with you, Ritsuka. I'll be sure to treat you to some yummy cake the next time you're at the-"
His offer trailed off as the two of them noticed that the lights had inexplicably shut off, and an ominous rumble echoed through the halls outside.
"What's going on? Why did the lights go out?" Roman's cheerful grin quickly dropped as an automated warning system answered his question for him.
Emergency. Emergency. A fire has broken out in the Central Power Station and the Central Command Room. Central Area's containment wall will activate in 300 seconds. All staff must evacuate from Gate 2 at once. Repeat—
"Could that have been an explosion?" Ritsuka could barely contain the worry in his voice. If something was going on in the control room, Mash and the others were sure to still be trapped inside.
"The monitors are down, I can't see a thing from here!" Roman exclaimed, his own agitation posing a stark contrast from the easy-going temperament Ritsuka had been enjoying mere moments ago. "I'm going to go to the Control Room to check on the damage. You should get out before the command wall closes, or you'll be stuck here."
"No." Ritsuka's response was as swift as it was decisive, motivated by equal parts fear for Mash's welfare and the urge to do something- anything- other than just sit and wait for whatever was going on to resolve itself. "I'm coming with you. I can't just sit here knowing that Mash might be in trouble." Fou sprang off the bed to join his new friend, apparently agreeing with his sentiments.
"What?! I mean, it's not like I'd object to an extra set of hands, but...you know what, we don't have time to argue right now. As long as you get out of there before the wall closes, you should be okay."
He had barely finished speaking before Ritsuka dashed out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him.
The control room was strewn with rubble and wreckage where there had once been cutting-edge machinery, and the stench of burning wires was so strong that Ritsuka was left coughing and spluttering for a moment when the doors opened. CHALDEAS itself seemed intact at least, but the prominent crater in the floor made it clear to both Ritsuka and Roman that this was no mere accident.
Generator operation stopped. Power level critical.
Switch to the backup generator, error. Please make the switch manually.
Containment wall will close in 180 seconds. Those remain in Central Area, evacuate immediately—
"...I don't see any survivors, but at least CHALDEAS is safe. I'm heading down to the underground power station. We can't let Chaldea's light go out. If you hurry up and go back the way you came, you can still make it. Go outside, and wait for help! Got it?" Roman now sounded as if he was just a moment away from a panic attack, and to be honest Ritsuka could understand why. And yet he couldn't bring himself to follow Roman's instructions or even his own better judgment. Even as another automated message announced that the Rayshift coordinates for the Singularity F expedition were set, he insisted on staying in the control room to be completely certain that nobody was left inside.
Needless to say, Roman had not taken his decision very well. "Oh god, what?! I don't even know if I'll be able to open the containment wall after it closes, but I can't stop you if you're that insistent on it. Just…don't stay in there any longer than you absolutely have to." A nod was the only reply the doctor received; talking would've just wasted more time as far as the Master candidate was concerned.
He could see the silhouettes of people within the coffins whose glass exteriors weren't too clouded by ashes and smoke to see through, but he couldn't identify any way to open them or even get a good enough look inside to determine if their inhabitants were living or dead. Just as he was about to give up hope and evacuate like Roman told him to do, he heard someone groaning in pain and dashed towards its source alongside Fou without a second thought.
His heart sank when he found the source in question.
Mash was trapped beneath a chunk of concrete; her face covered in bruises and cuts and her hoodie was soaked with blood. More worryingly, the pool of blood underneath her was steadily growing in size and her skin was getting paler by the moment. Yet despite her injuries, she still somehow had the strength to push herself up to meet Ritsuka' worried gaze. "Senpai…"
"MASH! Hold on, let me try to get this off!" Part of him knew that the effort would be pointless; even if he somehow did manage to lift the debris off of Mash long enough for her to crawl out from underneath it, there was no way that she could survive for long with her injuries.
And she knew that at least as well as he did. "Never mind me…please, just run…" she pleaded. "You need to…escape…"
"NO!" Ritsuka' shout was so loud that even he was taken aback by it for a moment. "I'm not going to leave without you. I could never live with myself knowing that I did nothing to help you when you needed it most." He didn't care that he had only known her for maybe an hour at most, if he was going to be her "senpai" he may as well live up to that title and watch out for her.
Mash seemed like she was about to open her mouth to object again, but the hissing of the automated doors closing behind the two of them quickly put an end to whatever it was she was about to say. A message played out mentioning that an "internal containment and cleansing protocol" would be initiated within 180 seconds; Ritsuka had no idea what that involved, but he had a feeling that it probably wouldn't be healthy for him to be caught in it.
But just as worrying as the imminent cleansing protocol in Ritsuka' mind was the other announcement playing out, accompanied by the holographic globe turning an angry shade of red like a twisted mockery of some distant star:
Warning to observation staff. Chaldeas' condition has changed. SHEBA's near-future observational data will be overwritten. The survival of the human race on Earth for the next 100 years cannot be confirmed. The future of humankind cannot be guaranteed.
"...they shut off the area. Now, we're both trapped," Mash noted with equal parts resignation and despondency. "Senpai…I'm sorry. Because of me, we're both-"
"Don't blame yourself for it," Ritsuka chided. "I knew this might happen when I came in here, and I don't regret trying to help you. Besides, I'm sure we can find a way out of this somehow." Privately, he wasn't quite sure if they really could get out, but the last thing he wanted to do was to just give in and wait for death.
And as if to answer his unspoken hopes, another message began playing.
Coffin Vitals: Masters Baseline not reached. Rayshift requirement not met. Searching for qualifying Master...Found. Candidate No. 48, Fujimaru reset as Master. Unsummon Program, start. Spiritron Conversion, start.
"Well…I guess that's one way to get out of here." Fou cried out, apparently agreeing with him.
While it wasn't the escape Ritsuka had in mind, whatever had to be on the other side of the Rayshift had to be at least somewhat more survivable than the decontamination. At least, that's what he was telling himself as he tried to keep a strong face for Mash's sake.
"Senpai…Would you mind holding my hand?"
His kouhai's voice snapped Ritsuka back to attention. "Of course not," he replied as he took her hand in his and savored her contented smile. "Here's hoping for the best."
The last thing he heard before the world started twisting around him was one last automated message.
Rayshift starting in 3…2…1. All procedures clear. First Order, commencing operation.