3: Sometimes, video games are informative.
I shudder as I'm shoved back into my body again. It's still a bit disorienting, waking up on the floor like this. Not counting my suicides to try to get back to Lugnica, I reset to the point of my return to Earth somewhere around twenty times - it wasn't exactly easy finding Chaldea. To start with, I didn't even know magic was a thing on Earth until I got assassinated by a Magus for revealing the existence of magic in a desperate bid to get people to pay attention to my warnings about the event I call [Apocalypse Conflagration].
That is, 4:27 PM, July 30th, 2015.
The day and time the world ends. The day and time every human being on the planet suddenly spontaneously combusts. The day and time Chaldea's command room explodes.
The day and time Mash Kyrielight dies a painful death.
...All that aside, the point I'm getting at is that I'm badly out of practice when it comes to short [Return by Death]s. The day I returned to Earth was the same day I left - May 24th, 2015 - and that gave me a solid three months between my "save point" and [Apocalypse Conflagration]. I've had plenty of time to get used to being given time to think things out, and now I'm struggling to keep everything straight.
And so, after a brief introduction to Mash, Fou, and Lev that goes about the same as the two before, while I'm sitting in the command room and listening to a briefing from the Director that I already heard in my first loop, I start to think.
...Let's start with what I know.
One: [Apocalypse Conflagration] happens at the same time that the command room explodes. Considering the globe that Olga Marie said showed the future of humanity turned into a big fireball after the explosion, I'd say that's solid evidence this singularity thing is the cause.
Two: The command room explodes. Why? [Apocalypse Conflagration] causes people to spontaneously combust, not structures. At least, not from what I've seen of the three seconds my vision continues after it begins. And furthermore, Mash and I were killed by injuries due to the explosion, not the spontaneous combustion.
Is Chaldea Terminator-proofed? Do they have some system preventing [Apocalypse Conflagration] from affecting those inside the facility? It would make sense for an organization with the ability to travel back in time to fix timeline shenanigans to have proofed itself against said timeline shenanigans. But, whoever is responsible knew about that, and sabotaged the facility with bombs. That would make sense.
To begin with, if Chaldea can travel back in time to fix the damaged past, that also implies that it can travel back in time to damage the past. That provides the method for the culprit. Or, one half of the method, anyway. They still had to figure out a way to set every human being on the planet on fire from within a small Japanese city in 2004, but I'll just chalk that up to magic and move on.
Three: If it's local sabotage, are the explosions from magecraft or from bombs? They came out of the floor, so it had to be one of the two, but I can't tell which. Does it matter which? The end result is the same, and my first action should be to figure out a way to get everyone out of the command room regardless. Which brings me to…
Four: Getting people to believe me without telling them about [Return by Death]. The key problem is that a magus like Lev can just hypnotize me and force me to blab, so-
My thoughts are abruptly cut off as a hand impacts my cheek.
"Ow! What-?" I start
"Oh don't you dare start acting innocent now! Staring off into the distance and ignoring everything I was saying, are you looking down on me?" shouts Olga Marie Animusphere.
"Ah, sorry, it's actually-" I start to explain myself, but she cuts me off.
"Ugh, I don't want to hear it. I can't even stand to look at your face any longer. Someone get this idiot out of here!"
"Sorry about that, Senpai. I totally forgot, the Simulator in the entrance tends to make people sleepy. I should have made sure you weren't going to pass out before you went to sit down," Mash says apologetically.
I shake my head. "Don't worry about it. In the first place, it wasn't drowsiness or anything like that, it was-"
"Fou!" yells a small white blur as it latches onto my face.
"Oi! Get off me! Ridley Scott will sue, you know!" I shout as I grapple with the squirrel-dog.
Mash giggles. "Don't worry, Senpai. As far as we can tell, Fou-kun is not an alien spider creature. He just enjoys jumping onto people's faces - well, usually he only jumps on my face, but he seems to have taken a liking to you as well, Senpai."
Fou scurries around the back of my neck and settles on my shoulder. "So it seems," I say with a forced smile. "Anyway, since I've been left out of the first mission… um, what should I do with myself?"
"...I'm not really sure," Mash replies. "We didn't have any protocols for something like this."
I chuckle. "Really? With the Director's personality, I'd have thought kicking out Master candidates would be expected."
"Mm… well, the previous director was supposedly a much more agreeable person. I haven't had much interaction with either myself, though." she says with a small shrug. "For now, I guess I can lead you to your room - but after that I've got to get back to the command room."
"Ah, come to think of it, you're not one of the Master candidates… what kind of job do you do, Mash-tan?" I ask. After all, if it's at all possible, I'd like to find a way to keep her out of the command room when the bombs go off. I'm almost certain that this loop is a bust, but that doesn't mean I want to let her get hurt if I can stop it.
"Well... I'm currently the only successful result of the Demi-Servant program. That is to say, I'm one of the two Servants already summoned by Chaldea - at least on paper," Mash says nervously.
"On paper?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Yes, well, in theory the summoned servant was supposed to possess me, allowing them to permanently manifest. But the servant instead chose not to retain control of my body" She says with a shrug. "I think they saw it as inhumane to remain in control."
"You think!?"
"Um, yes. Anyway, that means I'm not actually very useful as a combatant, but presumably whoever was summoned will transform me from human to demi-servant when that becomes necessary."
"Are you a magical girl!?"
"I... suppose that's not inaccurate." She says, trailing off and glancing away. Then, her posture straightens again as she locks eyes with me. "Anyway, I'm technically a member of the A-team, so I'll have to hurry back afterwards, but I should have time for a quick trip to the dorms if we're quick about it, senpai."
"Oi, the Director mentioned that those A-team guys are kind of a huge deal - if that's the case, wouldn't you be my senpai?" I ask as we start walking. I hadn't really questioned it before - Mash is younger than me, and it doesn't seem like Japanese is her first language - but if she's part of that elite squad including the Wodime guy everyone at Clock Tower was so hyped up about, she's gonna be pretty let down if she expects me to be some kind of helpful upperclassman.
"No, I'm not talking about our status as coworkers. Rather, you're more my senpai when it comes to 'being human'" she explains.
"...Being human, huh?" I don't really want to get too much into that one.
"Yes. Um, how should I put this… you seem very harmless." she says.
"I'm not sure if I should find that offensive or not…"
Of course, Mash isn't wrong. Natsuki Subaru is a weak person who can't do a thing without the help of his friends. Excluding [Invisible Providence] and [Return by Death], everything I can do relies on allies to help me out.
That's right. What I need is an ally. Someone who can get everyone out of the command room when the bombs go off, without me ending up hypnotized and blabbing about [Return by Death].
...Come to think of it, what was up with that, anyway? Lev had… something… living in his magic circuits. A demon, I think, given the reference to Flauros. Flauros is some kind of mythical demon, yeah? Shin Megami Tensei and Disgaea wouldn't lie to me, right? And if that weird eye thing was inside Lev's magic circuits…
...Is this that so-called "Demonic Possession"? Do I have to find a way to kick a cat demon out of Lev's body? Can it be kicked out of his body?
I contemplate these things as I watch Mash leave. My room is next door to the cafeteria, just a short walk into the dorms, so that'll be nice after I get a chance to advance past my first day here.
But for right now, considering there doesn't seem to be anyone else nearby, I guess I'll use Natsuki Subaru's special move!
I pull out my phone and call someone who's not completely clueless.
A/N:
I'm back. It's been a month. I'd like to say I did something important in that time, but that would be a lie.
Bit of an introspective chapter here, with Subaru getting his thoughts in order. I'm not super proud of it, but it leads into actual plot progression, so there's that.
I thought about cutting after the call, but that would likely drag on the time to next update by another month at my current pace. Gonna put it out now in the hopes that I can get back on the horse so to speak. Current plan is to try to get the next one out by Monday. I've got things moving now so hopefully it comes easier.