018 - Aftermath F

Olga Marie Animusphere

Lying sprawled on her bed, listlessly staring at the unchanging ceiling, Olga is more than aware of the fact that she's procrastinating. Her work isn't going to do itself while she's not looking and, in fact, it'll only continue to pile up while she's here doing nothing.

But she's feeling so… done with everything.

Her body is rebelling against the very idea of being productive, a vague feeling of nausea rising from the pit of her stomach the moment she even considers getting up from the bed to check on reports in her personal terminal or maybe leave the room to make the rounds and inspect the reconstruction efforts around the base. Around her base.

Her duty, her responsibility. She should be—!

But she just… can't.

Singularity F has been… quite the ordeal for her. A challenge to her abilities, to her preconceptions, to her resolve. A heavy test for her mind, body and soul. And now that it's done… She simply can't bring herself to think about what comes next.

She's crashing down, according to Roman. Burned out after giving her all, straining herself beyond reason and forcing herself to ignore her own stress and fear to do what needed to be done. She'd been using the pressure she was under to push herself forward beyond any reasonable limit and, once that pressure disappeared, she found herself with nothing else to give.

Roman had gone as far as to try to use his position as the highest medical authority to take her off-duty for a week. An over-exaggeration and far more than they can afford, of course, but Olga is willing to take one day off, as a compromise. It's rare to see the good doctor actually growing a spine, so she'll give him at least that much.

Thinking about it objectively, there's only so much she can do at the moment. Reports need to be compiled before she can browse them. Their current situation needs to be assessed before she can decide how to proceed from here. Her subordinates need to recover before she can put them to good use again.

The most she can realistically achieve right now by breathing down everyone's necks is making people who are already stressed and tired even more unnerved. Painful as it is to admit, there's nothing to be gained by trying to micromanage everything. She personally handpicked most of these people for their jobs and they've performed brilliantly during their trial of fire.

It's about time she starts trusting them to do their jobs unsupervised.

Still… There's one last thing she needs to do before she can finally close her eyes to catch some well-deserved rest. Something that won't let her sleep until it's solved.

Speaking of which…

"Lady Director?" A soft, unsure and vaguely perplexed voice comes from her room's intercom. "You called me?"

"Ah, Kyrielight." Olga acknowledges with a sigh, sitting up and running a hand over her lap to smooth the wrinkles of her skirt. "The door's open, come on in."

The metal door slides to the side, making way for the unassuming form of the artificial human. She's changed back into her Chaldean uniform, the armor she wore during the Singularity nowhere to be found. Seeing her fidgeting in place like this, waiting for Olga to speak up first, it's hard to believe this slip of a girl has the power of a Heroic Spirit at her disposal. In fact, for the longest of times…

"A–Ano…" Kyrielight finally breaks the silence, somehow seeming to shrink even further under Olga's gaze. "I'm here as requested, Lady Director."

"As you should." Olga says cooly, internally cursing her own inattention. She must've been really distracted if even someone like Kyrielight had the time to gather enough courage to speak up unprompted. "There are some details about the singularity I'd like to personally discuss with you."

Kyrielight makes a noise of vague acknowledgement, but doesn't actually say anything that Olga can latch on to keep the conversation going, so the awkward silence descends upon them once more.

Goodness, this is hard. For the longest of times, Olga has gone out of her way to avoid this girl. This has nothing to do with the presumed failure of the Demi-Servant experiments, like so many seem to believe and gossip about where they think she can't hear them, but it certainly hasn't helped Olga's own stone cold bitch reputation.

No, the truth of the matter is that Olga feels… Guilty. Guilty and afraid.

To be a magus is to walk with death and that's doubly true when the fate of the whole of Humanity everywhere and everywhen rests upon your shoulders. There's no such thing as moral limitations when it comes to delving deeper into Mystery and homunculi don't have rights in the first place. That's what Olga has been raised to believe and she's always done her best to be a good student.

… There's a big difference between accepting these facts at a rational level and having to stand there watching a young girl going through the sort of physical, mental and spiritual torture that Olga's father had forced Kyrielight to experience, all for the sake of a long-shot experiment that ended up in failure anyway. At least, as far as anyone knew at the time.

Olga could never forgive such a thing being forced upon her, so she couldn't fathom someone else forgiving it either. When Father died and Olga inherited Chaldea… She also inherited his sins. It made sense that she also inherited Kyrielight's resentment.

To think she has the gall to declare herself the proud head of the Animusphere while lacking the guts to actually look at the product of her sins in the face… What a pathetic joke she is, just a scared child playing at being an adult.

She'd… she'd like to believe that everything she's gone through in Singularity F has given her the courage to move past that guilt and fear. In a way, that's even true. It's just terribly misleading too. Because this reunion isn't due to some personal growth or sudden maturity on her part. But rather…

"You protected me." She finally says out loud, making Kyrielight startle.

"I…" The other girl trails off, clearly lost. Much to Olga's annoyance. "Beg your pardon?"

"Back in the Greater Grail Chamber, when the ceiling collapsed." She forces herself to explain. "Why did you protect me instead of your Master?"

For a moment, Kyrielight simply stands there blinking gormlessly, as if she hadn't even understood the question and making Olga feel even more self-conscious that she already is. In the end though, right as Olga's about to snap at her again, she finally opens her mouth to answer.

"I… I don't know, Lady Director." The girl answers hesitantly. "My body just moved."

That's… that's all?

What about… what about the hatred, the well-deserved rancour against the one responsible for so much pain and suffering? That was the perfect opportunity to leave Olga to die without having to feel guilty or even needing an excuse. A Servant's first duty is, after all, towards their master. There was no reason for Kyrielight to step away from Fujimaru to protect Olga instead.

So… Why? How? For what reason?

'My body just moved.'

Could it be…? Does Olga dare to hope?

For the longest of times, Olga has avoided Kyrielight as much as humanly feasible. This wasn't just because of guilt and fear, but also out of powerlessness. Because there was nothing she could do about it. And so, naívely, childishly, she tried to push the whole matter aside, out of sight and out of mind. Vaguely hoping to someday make up for everything Father had done, to somehow earn an absolution she has no right to wish for.

But Kyrielight, she…

'My body just moved.'

Maybe… Maybe there's nothing to seek absolution for. Maybe there's no resentment to clear out. Maybe all the weight crushing Olga's shoulders comes from her own guilty conscience. Maybe Kyrielight is a far better person than Olga herself would ever dream to be.

"… Lady Director?" Kyrielight breaks the silence again, startling Olga out of her introspection.

"It's nothing." Olga shakes her head, feeling a small smile tugging at her lips. Maybe she's making a terrible mistake, maybe she's misunderstanding everything and there's still a knife in the shadows, waiting to sink into her back at the slightest chance, but… "Say, Kyrielight."

"Yes?"

"Are you busy right now?" Maybe there isn't. And she won't ever figure out the answer for sure until she stops avoiding her guild and faces it head on. "I've been taken off active duty, but after so long of working hard everyday… I don't really know how to enjoy free time anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm asking if you'd be fine with… Nevermind." Maybe she's being too forward after so long without any social interaction worth the name. Anyone would be put off if a stone cold bitch like her suddenly tried to get closer to them. "I'm sure you have better things to do with your time than entertaining a useless superior who can't even look after her own health."

"N–No! I mean, that's not true at all, Lady Director!" Kyrielight hurries to deny, taking a step closer and shoving her face uncomfortably close to Olga's. "I would love to spend some time with you, if you'd have me."

"O-oh." Olga finds herself stammering, her face suddenly going very hot as she finds herself looking away and scratching her cheek nervously. "Well, that's–"

"A… and that's not true at all!" The lilac-haired girl cuts her off with a small pout on her face.

"What isn't true?"

"Lady Director isn't useless at all!" Kyrielight presses on, pumping both fists in what Olga assumes is supposed to be an empathetic display of determination, but only works to make the already adorable girl look even cuter. "I think the way she kept her cool all through the Singularity was amazing! A-And when she fought back against Lev-san like that! It was very impressive!"

"Please." Olga scoffs to hide a pleased smile at the encouraging words, letting herself fall back to sit on her bed with a sigh. "Big fat lot of good it did in the end, the thing didn't even blink."

"That's not fair! You were very cool and inspiring!" Kyrielight insists, seemingly determined to fluster Olga even further. "And I'm sure any normal magus would've been easily defeated."

"Normal doesn't cut it." Olga doubles down. The effort to cheer her up is much appreciated, but she doesn't need an inflated head right now. Not with what's surely yet to come. "I need to be better."

"The Lady Director is too hard on herself." Kyrielight shakes her head, seemingly relenting at last. Then it's her turn to deflate, taking both hands to her heart as her shoulders slump. "Compared with that, my own performance…"

At these words Olga finds her eyes narrowing. Because it takes a particularly idiotic sort of person, or a total lack of self-awareness, to consider Kyrielight's performance during the Singularity anything short of excellent.

Since the purported failure of the Demi-Servant experiment, Kyrielight's role role during the singularities had always been strictly supportive. Nobody expected her to step into the frontlines and nobody had prepared her for it. She had no training, no education and no experience when it comes to combat and yet she rose to the challenge admirably.

More important… Nobody puts down Olga's subordinates but her, not even the subordinates themselves.

"Kyrie– Mashu." She states firmly, looking up to glare at the girl. "Don't ever say that again."

"E– Eh?"

"You kept up with King Arthur herself in combat." Olga chastises. "You don't get to decry your own performance after something like that."

"I was too weak, her blows were so mighty they rattled me even through my shield." The foolish girl tries to protest. Stubbornly refusing to take the damn compliment. "If the fight had kept up just a bit longer…"

"Are we even remembering the same fight?" Olga huffs incredulously, eyes gaining a mischievous glint as an interesting approach comes to mind. "Maybe I missed something. Were you bleeding anywhere back then?"

"Eh?" Kyrielight blinks confusedly at the apparent non-sequitur. That means she's not even considered this angle on her own, good. "No?"

"Neither was I, nor Fujimaru." Olga asserts with finality. "You two beat up one of the strongest Servants there is. And we didn't even get a single wound from your efforts."

Mashu goes very still at these words, frowning slightly as if she's trying to figure out some sort of complex mental puzzle. After a brief moment where Olga fears she won't get through the girl's hard head after all, realization finally hits. The single visible eye widens comically as the meaning behind Olga's words finally register.

"… Oh."

"Oh, indeed." Olga nods in satisfaction. "Have a bit more faith in yourself, okay?"

"I… I'll try, Lady Director."

Doctor Romani Archaman

Now that the Singularity has been solved and things are finally calming down, he can take the time to sit down and think things through instead of running from one out-of-control fire to the next like a headless chicken. Granted, Olga is on medical leave so his long-awaited release from duty isn't quite here, but he's getting there and that's what matters.

Besides, the worst of the mess on his side of things has stabilized too. No worry of anything else randomly exploding and killing off everyone.

…

…

…

Not much of a worry, at least.

In any case, he can now ask himself some of the big questions. Questions about whatever butterflies could've possibly thrown things out of whack like this. Some of his questions are about the Red Faction and their mysterious goals, but… that's not where most of his worries lie.

Olga died in the process of solving this Singularity. Twice. While he's inordinately happy that she's gotten better, it doesn't change the fact it happened.

The first time, a seemingly-innocuous gift saved her life, somehow actualizing a self-resurrection Mystery of the likes only very specialized magus can perform nowadays. The second time, a similar process managed to tear Olga's Rayshifted soul back into the present to reunite it with her body.

Ah, that sounds weirder than it actually was, when put like that. Considering the converging circumstances, it's no wonder the Rayshifted soul returned to the empty body upon being resurrected. But the question still remains.

How did Haku-kun know to give her a self-resurrecting Mystic Code in the first place? How did she know to do it again after the first one served its purpose? Was it foresight or design? Was she aware Olga would be in danger… or was she responsible for it?

Was the Tohsaka from the Singularity simply trying to spare Olga a fate worse than death? Or did she know how everything would play out beforehand? But then, why not simply say it when asked? What need was there for that sort of misdirection?

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence and he would happily leave it at that. But… Some things simply don't make sense. Why did Lev call the Red Faction 'Interlopers'? It made sense from the Black Faction to use that moniker, but him? Roman is missing something and that's going to drive him spare for weeks.

There's also the matter of Haku-kun's Command Spells. She only used the one on Mashu, to help her project her Noble Phantasm against Saber of Black. But two of them were missing when she came back from the Rayshift. What happened to the other one?

"Fujimaru Ritsuka… Haku-kun. Just what's on your mind?"

Fujimaru 'Haku(?)' Ritsuka

Waiting until the door of her room closes behind her, Haku lets herself sag with a tired sigh, hands reaching for the neck of her uniform to grope blindly around the clasp. Finally, some alone time she can enjoy in private. Don't get her wrong, she's a cheerful girl full of energy, but everything has a limit. And she's had to deal with a lot of bullshit recently.

Slipping her feet out of her boots, she makes her way deeper into the room at the same time she distractedly undoes the latch. Her hands go then to the multiple buckles securing her top to repeat the action. Why the uniform was designed with so many pointless belts, she'll never know. There are some upsides for clothing that's hard to remove, but few of them still apply when her bottoms are pantyhose and a miniskirt.

After some struggles though, she manages to loosen the white top and pull it over her head with a fluid, practiced motion before throwing it into a corner of the room. The pleated black miniskirt soon follows, leaving her clad in a sexy red bra with black embroidery and matching panties that can be seen through the black pantyhose.

She walks towards the bed while reaching for the clasp of her bra, easily undoing the piece and sending it to join the rest of her clothes with a careless throw and a relieved groan before sinking her butt on the sinfully soft mattress. One would expect something more spartan for a semi-military organization like Chaldea, but they truly spared no expenses for their Master Candidates.

Finally, she hooks her thumbs on both sides of her waistband, catching both panties and pantyhose at the same time and peeling them off her legs in a single motion. Just to be contrary, she throws the bunched-up ball of sexy underwear against the other corner of her room.

There, finally naked. Nothing standing between her skillful fingers and her own sexy body. Time to properly treat herself to some good old fashioned stress relief, she's damn well earned it. Been a while since she had to take care of this on her own, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Now, what would be a good fantasy?" She muses out loud, fingers already working to start teasing her body. "Something with Nii-san for sure... maybe my first time?"

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