Kell of Snow
Verified TinTin enjoyer
- Location
- New York
So you're telling me that they put Bazett in FGO as a playable Servant?!?
Hereafter [Worm x Fate/Grand Order]
- Thread starter James D. Fawkes
- Start date
- Crossover
So you're telling me that they put Bazett in FGO as a playable Servant?!?
- Location
- Philadelphia
One thing I've been wondering regarding First Folio is, considering how independent the Gilles replica seemed to be, in that it seems like Shakespeare actually summoned him but just without any power, could there be some extra fuckery if he uses it to call forth a Parahuman from Taylor's past seeing as their powers come from an external source? Like I'm not saying his replicas are actually tricking the Passengers, but more just giving them an excuse to do additional testing like how they handle clones.
Well that depends if the fragments can be connected with the "clones" taking into account that they are not human, on the contrary they are projections created with memory fragments. Apart from the fact, we don't know if the Fragments can in Fate-verse, QA has an excuse why Taylor is already here and can as a sign, but the rest I don't think so.
- Location
- Void
I'm pretty sure that was the case, summoned as a classless Servant and was extremely weak because of that.
It depends on what the Passengers uses as the exact requirements to determine a Host, given Shards have tracked things like DNA and other unknown measurements when determining who they are supposed to connect to. So it is possible that they would not normally connect to a Servant, as they are just dead things taking shape with ether, and are not proper lifeforms as seen in the Scandinavian Lostbelt. It also presumes that Shapesphere also has the capacity to call upon things like wraiths, phantoms, records from parallel worlds, and fill the being of the person as they would not be on the Throne more often then they are.
Thus it would depend on how much the Host's mindset is retained and if it experiences a similar enough trauma, akin to the S9 Clones, to attract the attention of a Shard. Which that itself is dependent on any Shards being/actively operating within this branch of time, being not incinerated by Solomon if it's body is stored previously on this series of Worlds, and that the Shard is able to do this while the Network provided by Zion is down; meaning by themselves. As it is entirely possible that Talyor is an extreme edge case and was lucky her Shard took initiative by following where she ended up.
I'm kind of jumping in here late, but I have a question.
Do Servents need to breathe? I know they don't need to eat or sleep, but I'm wondering if Taylor could use the same tactics that she used to fell the Invincible Alexandria by drowning them in bugs.
I kept wondering that during the Orleans arc, why Taylor didn't try shoving bugs down the enemy Servant's throats. I'll grant that Dracul was probably immune and the ones that could make fire would have the same issues as Lung in Worm, but any of the others that might have been a viable tactic.
Do Servents need to breathe? I know they don't need to eat or sleep, but I'm wondering if Taylor could use the same tactics that she used to fell the Invincible Alexandria by drowning them in bugs.
I kept wondering that during the Orleans arc, why Taylor didn't try shoving bugs down the enemy Servant's throats. I'll grant that Dracul was probably immune and the ones that could make fire would have the same issues as Lung in Worm, but any of the others that might have been a viable tactic.
Servants can suffocate, but it takes a long while much longer than a human, and they have other ways of dealing with Taylor's shenanigans, Astral Form to just instantly no-sell the bugs, the fact that they heavily outspeed Taylor, and the bullshittery of Skills like Instinct, which has been stated to be able to 'predict the future,' to Clairvoyance which is... well, self explanatory, Eye of the Mind, etc, etc. Servants may be able to die, and weaker servants could be done in that way in EXTREMELY specific scenarios, but medium-tier servants and above? Definitely not.
Chapter XXXV: Prelude to Septem
James D. Fawkes
Court Scribe
- Location
- Avalon (Isle of Mists)
Chapter XXXV: Prelude to Septem
Nearly six weeks after our return from the Orléans Singularity, the day finally arrived to begin our journey into the Roman Singularity. I'd given Ritsuka and Rika the last three days off to rest, relax, and recharge, so I woke up that morning feeling rejuvenated and ready to go.
A brisk run on the treadmill banished any remnants of sleep, and then a hot shower eased away the soreness and tension left behind by exercise, and I entered the cafeteria refreshed and energized to eat another of Emiya's delicious breakfast meals. It might have just been an omelet, but he'd done something different, added some spices that I couldn't quite identify, and sprinkled bits of chopped bacon through the layer of cheese in the middle.
"Good morning, Miss Taylor," Mash called to me as I sat down. Fou, as he always seemed to be when we were in Chaldea, was perched on one shoulder, watching everything with his beady blue eyes.
"Morning, Mash," I replied.
The twins were sitting with her and eating their own breakfasts, but they were quiet and withdrawn, like the weight of the Rayshift to come was dragging them down, and they didn't even seem to know I was there, let alone greet me. They were already dressed and ready to go, otherwise, but even the normally energetic and bouncy Rika was subdued and lost in her own thoughts.
It reminded me a little of Endbringer briefings. We hadn't always had the time for a big, preparatory speech the way we had that fateful attack by Leviathan, but Defiant and Dragon's predictive program had given us more and more leeway with every attack, and things were always solemn and serious. Smiles had been far and few between, shared between old comrades and veteran survivors meeting up after a long while apart.
There was no room for joking or goofing off in the face of walking, city-destroying natural disasters.
Once my plate was clean and my glass was drained, I took it back to Emiya, who accepted it with a tight-lipped frown and an acknowledging nod.
"I made some quick and easy meals for you guys last night," he told me in a low, quiet voice. "It won't last you long, but it should hold everyone over for a day or two until you can find a big enough city. Longer, if you land close enough to make it there on the first day."
"Thank you."
He didn't reply except to give me another nod.
With my plate and tray delivered, I turned to leave the cafeteria and go pick up the rest of my supplies, but as I passed the twins, I was struck by the urge to say something encouraging, something to lift their spirits a little. The only trouble was, I didn't know what I should say.
What would Lisa say? I asked myself. How would she put them at ease?
It had been so long, I wasn't totally sure, but… It would probably be something like…
"Hey." My right hand came down to rest on Ritsuka's shoulder. "Relax a little. It's going to be fine. We got through Orléans, didn't we?"
They looked as surprised at what came out of my mouth as I was, or maybe they were just surprised I was being comforting and supportive. I knew that I'd been a little rough on them during our training sessions, but I wasn't that much of a hardass, was I? Sure, I wasn't the most cuddly, approachable person, but that didn't mean I was lacking in something as fundamental as compassion.
The twins didn't reply, they just kept looking at me, wide-eyed, so I gave Ritsuka's shoulder an awkward pat and made good my escape.
"Fou…" I heard the little gremlin whine behind me, somehow managing to sound confused.
Fuck. I just made things weird, didn't I? Damn it.
I distracted myself from stewing on it by going over a mental checklist of all of the things I was going to need for the Septem Singularity. Traveling relatively light was going to be essential. Whatever means Da Vinci had cooked up to make the travel times less of a problem, the inescapable fact of the matter was that we were going to be trekking across the entire European continent, this time.
Maybe if we were lucky, everything would be centered on Rome and we could get around in a few hours instead of weeks, but I wasn't holding my breath on that one. Life had taught me that particular lesson too many times for me to hope it would be that easy.
So, the twins just had their Mystic Codes. They didn't have any other equipment to carry with them. The job of carrying the rations that Emiya made and whatever we might pick up along the way (whether in the field or as a supply drop from Romani), that would have to go to them. Them and Mash, although it was probably a better idea to have Mash as unencumbered as possible, in case she had to leap to our defense.
As for the others, making plans for who should carry what was probably a bit moot. Shakespeare I disregarded immediately, because it seemed obvious he would stay here, but as for who would be coming with us and who would be staying in reserve for emergencies, I hadn't been briefed on that. Emiya had a lot of utility in a lot of ways, so I could see them sending him with us right off the bat, but Arash and Siegfried were both powerhouses.
If I had the choice — and I technically did, as leader of the field team, but I'd be a fool to ignore the opinion of Leonardo fucking da Vinci — I think I would have picked Siegfried. He was an excellent combination of offense and defense, capable of outputting raw damage and taking heavy hits, and he was the only reason we had managed to kill Dracule at all. Arash was incredible as an Archer, but if Emiya was coming along, then that niche was technically already filled.
Bradamante… She wasn't necessarily weak, if she fought off one of Jeanne Alter's Servants by herself. But while she could probably fit the role of frontline attacker, Siegfried was just better at it. If we weren't taking everyone along from the get-go, I couldn't see her being part of the initial field team.
With all of that in mind, what could I feasibly take with me?
My communicator, obviously. The nano-thorn dagger, my Last Resort, that was a no-brainer, too. A book, something to do in case we had to sit around for a while again… If I did, it would have to be something small and light so that it didn't weigh me down. A paperback. The Da Vinci Code, maybe, a novel that hadn't existed on Earth Bet. I'd bought it on a whim to tweak Da Vinci's nose way back when — a fit of pique when I was missing Lisa a little too keenly — and never read it.
That just left my puppets.
When we started the Orléans Singularity, I had left them behind because they were useless without the multitasking that I'd taken for granted as a cape. Now, with my powers back, they were worth their weight in gold. So about six pounds, total.
They had a storage mode, where they collapsed into innocuous cylinders that might be mistaken for a pair of thermoses at first glance, but I couldn't see myself storing them away all that often inside Septem. Unlike my bugs, the range limit on my ravens was a matter of how far away they could still receive my "signal" and keep working properly instead of an arbitrary distance limit set by an alien supercomputer as part of one, gigantic game.
I worried, for an instant, about what might happen when someone finally realized that the ravens weren't natural creatures and instead my puppets — an Archer, for instance, who would be able to pick them off before I even realized something was wrong — because they were far less expendable tools than my bugs were and much more difficult to replace. But it was the silly, childish fear of a little girl scared of breaking her favorite toys, and it passed just as quickly.
They were just too useful, in the end. Quantity was a quality all its own, and I'd gone to great lengths to maximize the usefulness of my swarm, set them upon my enemies from unexpected directions in unexpected ways, but as the wyverns in Orléans had proven, there was a limit to what I could do with even that. My ravens should help bridge the gap with enemies that required the extra oomph of actual magic.
By the time I made it back to my room, I'd mostly decided, so it was as easy as flitting about to actually grab it all. My knife and its holster were strapped back on, a few miscellaneous supplies gathered — a couple hair ties for if I needed them at any point, for example — and when I had everything else, I carefully sandwiched my ravens into the sling bag whose strap I fastened across my chest.
I was patting myself down to make sure I'd gotten everything when a knock sounded at my door and it whooshed open. Da Vinci's smiling face was on the other side.
"Oh, it looks like you're ready," she said pleasantly.
I nodded.
"Time for the briefing?"
"I just came from telling Ritsuka and Rika," she told me in lieu of a direct answer. She looked at my backpack. "You're taking the ravens along with you, this time?"
"My problems with multitasking before were the only reason I left them behind," was the answer I gave her. "With my powers back, I don't have to worry about that anymore, so I can use them as much as I want. No sense in leaving a pair of my best weapons behind."
Da Vinci's lips pulled into a frown for a moment, although I didn't understand why, but it was gone and the smile was back before I could ask what was on her mind.
"Perhaps we should start calling you Hrafnaguð, then," she teased.
I scowled at her, but that only seemed to make her laugh. "It's not like I had tons of good options. 'Blackie' and 'Spot' were the next options down on my list."
That only made her laugh harder, and I had to fight to keep my own smile from breaking out across my face.
"Well, maybe it doesn't fit that well anyway." She tapped at her cheek beneath her left eye. "After all, it was your arm you lost, not your eye, so it doesn't quite fit."
"You're hilarious," I told her dryly.
"I'm a genius," she retorted smugly. "Humor is but one of my many talents."
Because the greatest polymath in history apparently needed more of them. If Achilles had been dipped in the River Styx and gained an immortal body, then Da Vinci must have been dipped in the River Lethe and gained unfathomable wisdom.
I sighed and shook my head. "Let's just get going."
Da Vinci stepped back into the hallway and gestured with that ridiculously oversized gauntlet she insisted on wearing over her left arm. "After you."
A muscle in my cheek jumped, but I took the invitation for what it was and stepped out of my room. The door closed behind me with another hydraulic whoosh, and when I started off towards the Command Room, Da Vinci fell into step next to me.
"You know, I don't understand why you went with ravens," she said conversationally. "Any number of options and the aid of a celebrated genius in bringing them to life, and you decided on something both special and mundane."
Special and mundane? What was that supposed to mean?
"Why do you think I chose ravens?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," she chirped. "You see, Orléans showed me even more that you prefer brutal efficiency and utilitarianism over flash and style. One would think you preferred more humanoid puppets to make use of in that case, for their sheer versatility and available real estate, so to speak, or perhaps something that could blend in no matter where it went, which I suppose ravens can do. They're a pretty ubiquitous species, after all. They wouldn't look out of place throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere."
She hummed thoughtfully.
"Of course, there are plenty of other animals with a universal enough spread to be equally as useful," she went on. "A dog or a cat, perhaps, or maybe a wolf. Yes, yes, dogs or cats would be less conspicuous to bring about with you, wouldn't they? They might be easily mistaken for an ordinary pet or a simple familiar. Ravens are less common companions and therefore more easily suspected. More suspicious to have them out and about with you." She sighed. "And of course, the part that I keep stumbling over, ravens just have fewer offensive and defensive options, both in terms of 'natural' weapons and in the amount of space they have internally to carry different armaments."
"They're also harder to catch," I countered mildly. "They don't need as much in the way of options because they're not stuck on the ground when the fighting begins. What they lack in sturdiness they make up for in maneuverability and height advantage."
"True," she agreed. "I suppose that makes some sense, as well. If you're used to having bugs as familiars, then you're used to having a higher vantage point of the action — ah. That's it, isn't it? You like having a bird's eye view of what's going on when you're fighting, quite literally."
That was part of it, but… Well, as embarrassing as it was to admit it, it was even simpler than that. A bit childish, even, which was why I didn't admit it out loud.
"Yeah."
I'd always wanted to fly. I hadn't hit the power jackpot with mine and gotten flight, but the flight pack Dragon had made for me later on had let me shore up that bit, and while I'd mostly gotten over the childish joy of flying by that point, there was something that remained incredible about flying under (mostly) my own power.
The sensory input from my ravens wasn't as complete as it was for my bugs, but it made up for it by also being closer to human than bugs' senses were. And that meant that I could experience, in some diluted, minor way, what it was like to feel the wind under their wings as they soared high up in the air.
It was probably the closest I was ever going to get to flying again.
"I suppose that does suit you," said Da Vinci. "Yes, you have a tendency to approach situations from lateral angles instead of head on, the way you defeated Dracul. And Jeanne Alter, come to think of it, and Saber Alter in Fuyuki."
"In another life, I used my bugs to set up tricks and traps with silk thread," I agreed. "Caught plenty of people off guard with that."
Da Vinci huffed a quiet chuckle.
"I'm not so sure you could still call it another life, since you've introduced the twins to that sort of thing so intimately. Wouldn't that be more like falling into old habits?"
My cheek twitched, but I managed to fight down the smile again.
"Weren't you the one praising me for capturing the experience of fighting a Caster in her own territory so well?"
"Isn't that the same as calling you a competent magus?" she shot back, grinning. "The same adage applies, remember. Magi are more dangerous in their workshops than not, the same as Casters."
"Be careful Sylvia doesn't hear you say that," I said, "she might get insulted."
Da Vinci chuckled again. "Very few of the magi who joined Chaldea are as much 'proper magi' as I'm sure you've heard horror stories about. She might take it as a compliment to be compared to you."
Somehow, I doubted that. I was barely what they called a mere spellcaster, let alone anything resembling a proper magus. Even the lowliest magus from the Mage's Association would probably point and laugh at my skill with magic.
Well. I was fine with that. Magic was just another tool. What did the opinions of a bunch of empty-headed academics matter to someone who wielded it as a weapon?
Before long, we reached the Command Room, where Romani and the twins were already waiting with our Servants — minus Shakespeare — gathered around in a small, uncomfortable cluster. Several of the technicians on duty kept sneaking glances towards them, like this was the first time they'd seen Servants up close and personal. It probably was, actually.
"And there's the rest of the group," Romani said with a smile. "Good morning. I was just telling Ritsuka, Rika, and Mash about how we're going to handle the Rayshift for this Singularity."
Rika fidgeted nervously, as though the mere mention of it made her antsy, and even her brother was a bit jittery, although he hid it better than she did.
"Good morning, Romani!" Da Vinci said brightly.
"We're doing something different than last time?" I asked, cutting right to the point. Romani's smile grew a little wider, like he'd expected that and found it funny.
"With the Orléans Singularity, we only had Mash and Emiya on staff for our Servants," he explained. "We were also still fixing the damage from the sabotage, so we had to be much more careful about how much we stressed our systems, and that had something to do with our decisions about how conservative we had to be."
"Which is why I had to stay behind during the initial Rayshift," Emiya intoned with a nod.
"That was part of it, yes," Romani confirmed. "Well, this time, we're much better off than we were back then, and we now have a second Grail to power both the facility and support the four Servants we've picked up since then — Arash, Siegfried, Bradamante, and Shakespeare. Not everything is fixed yet, and not everything is completely repaired yet, but we're far more confident in our position than we were before."
He swept his gaze across the assembled group.
"That's why it's been decided that our initial group will consist of Mash, Taylor, Ritsuka, and Rika, accompanied by Emiya and Arash."
Bradamante made a sound of dismay that might generously be compared to a cat being strangled, and Siegfried's face drew into a troubled look. "We won't all be accompanying them?"
"It's true that the Grails that Mash and the others collected from Fuyuki and Orléans have bolstered our ability to support multiple Servant contracts," Da Vinci jumped in, "but even with the support of such massive wellsprings of magical energy, the strain on the Masters is not insignificant. Three Masters lets us send more Servants at once, but even with that, we have to be careful."
"They seemed just fine in Orléans!" Bradamante insisted.
"Truly, I noticed no apparent strain on my Master," Siegfried agreed. "She supported myself and Lord Arash without much difficulty."
Until the Noble Phantasms started coming out, I admitted in the privacy of my own head. Even then, the strain had been more on my Magic Circuits than on my reserves of energy.
"I'm guessing you have a reason we're not just sending everyone," Arash said.
"Da Vinci and I discussed this in depth," said Romani. "When we reviewed the data from Orléans, we realized just how many stray Servants the team ran into over the course of resolving the Singularity. Despite that, the only new contracts we picked up were technically just Siegfried and Arash, and Arash was manually summoned by Taylor. On the other hand, Bradamante's contract was registered in an unusual way, so it's actually shared between all three of the Masters."
Oh. I thought I saw where this was going.
"You want to keep our options open for recruiting more Servants," I said.
Romani nodded. "Since we don't know what we might be facing in future Singularities, it's a good idea to hedge our bets and contract as many Servants as we feasibly can. At the very least, for those we can't bring back with you guys at the end of the Singularity, we should record their Saint Graphs to the FATE system so we can attempt to summon them at a later date."
Rika chuckled quietly, and under her breath, I heard her mutter, "The real treasure was the friends we made along the way."
Romani apparently heard her, too, because he smiled. "Something like that, yeah."
"There's also another matter to consider," said Da Vinci. "While it's true that Siegfried and Bradamante are both powerful Servants, they also had some relation to the situation in Orléans, yes? Bradamante is technically a French Servant, and Siegfried is a dragonslayer, well-suited to fighting the wyverns burning the country down. In that case, rather than sending you into Septem with as much firepower as we can, the better idea might be to let you make contracts with the native Servants, who may be better suited to handling the specific situation — no offense, you two."
"Ah, it's fine!" said Bradamante at the same time as Siegfried's solemn, "None was taken."
"So," Bradamante began, "does that mean we're sitting out the whole Singularity?"
"What if we need their help?" Ritsuka asked.
"We may run into another situation like with Fafnir," Mash agreed. "Without Siegfried and the others, doesn't that put us in more danger?"
Romani turned to Da Vinci, who told them, "Currently, I'm working on a system that would allow more rapid response summonings when we need them, which will let us cut down on overall strain while still allowing any of our Servants to respond when called, but for now… Yes. Unless the situation changes, all Servants who aren't part of the initial Rayshift will remain on standby."
Bradamante groaned and deflated. "I'll never get to show my stuff at this rate."
"In the meantime," said Romani, "it's not the best solution, but between Emiya's barrier spell and Mash's Noble Phantasm, you should have enough defense to hold off the enemy until we can send reinforcements."
"Even if the time differential turns out to be as bad as you think it might?" I asked.
Romani grimaced and turned to Da Vinci again.
"Once I can get this system working properly, calling in reinforcements should be something you can do entirely from your end," Da Vinci answered. "For now… Yes. I'm afraid even our best response time to sending you reinforcements is likely to be anywhere from one minute to five, on your end."
"Is there any way for Chaldea's sensors to detect whether an approaching Servant is hostile?" Mash asked.
"So we can know whether to send in reinforcements before the fighting even gets started, you mean?" Romani shook his head. "I'm sorry. Unfortunately, something like that is just impossible, even for SHEBA or TRISMEGISTUS. Divining the intent of an approaching Servant is still more the realm of psychology than anything else. Raw numbers can't be used to suss that out."
"You'll just have to use your best judgement," Da Vinci chimed in.
"Are there any other concerns?" Romani's gaze swept across the entire group. Neither Siegfried nor Bradamante looked particularly pleased with being left behind, but Siegfried at least seemed to have accepted the explanation.
"I don't like it," Bradamante muttered mutinously. "I didn't join up just to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else rush into danger!"
"If you think you can do a better job of defending the Masters," Da Vinci said shrewdly, "then I'm sure Emiya or Arash would be happy to switch places with you."
"Wait," Romani interjected, panic on his face, "hold on, that's not what we —" Da Vinci must have shot him a warning look, because he cut himself off and suddenly changed tacks. "I mean, yeah. We can arrange a change in the roster if you think you can do the job better."
Bradamante immediately backpedaled. "N-not at all! I'm sure Sir Emiya and Lord Arash are perfectly capable of protecting everyone! I just don't want to be left behind! Th-that's all I meant! I didn't mean to insult anyone at all!"
Emiya chuckled quietly, and from the small smile on his face, Arash recognized the ploy for what it was, too. Even the twins seemed to realize that Bradamante had just been played like a fiddle.
"I'll tell you what," said Romani. "If the number of contracts the team picks up with stray Servants in the Septem Singularity is lower than expected, you'll be the first one sent in to fill out the team. Does that work for you?"
Bradamante sighed. "I suppose it must," she lamented. "Still! For the next Singularity, I insist on being a part of the vanguard!"
Romani smiled. "We'll see how things work out, but I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Again, he looked around the group. "Anyone else?"
No one spoke up, and he nodded.
"Let's get the rest of the briefing over with, then."
He walked over to his terminal, the Director's terminal, and started typing on the keyboard as we all huddled around him. The massive multi-paneled screen flickered and changed as he brought up the map of the currently known Singularities again. A moment later, it honed in on the one located in Rome and brought up the details.
"The source of the next Singularity is Rome during the year 60 AD," Romani explained. "We can't tell you much about what's going on in there, but during proper history, this was smack dab in the middle of Emperor Nero's reign. Insofar as what is being disrupted? We don't know for sure, but it's likely that what is trying to be changed or altered is the fall of the Roman Empire. Either someone is trying to prevent it, or someone is trying to make it happen sooner."
"Either one is bad," Da Vinci added. "The Roman Empire needed to fall for history to progress forward, but there are a number of things that needed to happen before it did. 60 AD is far, far too early."
"Right." Romani nodded. "There's also a bit of bad news."
He typed something out, and a red line drew itself around Britain, the entirety of Europe, the Mediterranean, and a relatively thin sliver of Northern Africa.
"As far as we can tell, this is the amount of land covered by the Singularity."
A distressed sound squeaked out of Rika's throat, like a groan that had been strangled before it made it all the way out of her mouth. "W-what?"
"H-how," Ritsuka stammered faintly, "are we supposed to cover that much ground?"
"Well," Romani began, "ideally, you'll land right where we want you to and walking to Rome, the capital city, will take all of about twenty minutes."
"And if we don't?" Mash asked. "Doctor, Senpai can't possibly walk across the entire Roman Empire! Miss Taylor, either!"
"I'm not sure they'd appreciate being carried the entire way, either," Emiya said.
"A-absolutely not!" Rika yelped, her voice an entire octave higher than normal.
"You said you had a plan for dealing with this," I cut in.
"Right." Romani cleared his throat. "Da Vinci, if you would?"
"Of course."
Da Vinci stepped away and went over to a corner of the room to retrieve a plain, white, cardboard box that I hadn't noticed before, the emblem of Chaldea printed on the side. She brought it over towards us and set it down with a thud, then reached inside and pulled out…a metal harness holding a pair of wheels.
"Hup!"
But with a flick of her wrist, the harness unfolded and the bars snapped into place until she was holding a small bicycle by the handlebar. She smiled at us. "Ta-da!"
"A…bicycle?" Ritsuka muttered curiously.
"Not just any bicycle!"
"It's an e-bike," I realized when I spotted the compact motor attached beneath the seat.
Da Vinci pouted, but it turned quickly into a secretive smile and she wagged the index finger of her free hand.
"It's not just an e-bike, either," she said smugly. "It's an ultra-special Da Vinci custom e-bike, mark one!"
I rolled my eyes.
"What's the difference?" Rika asked.
"It runs on magical energy," said Da Vinci. She gestured to the motor, which was actually less than half the size of the ones I'd seen on Earth Bet. "The motor you see here has a condenser installed that absorbs ambient mana from the atmosphere and converts it into power. If you needed to, you could use some of your own mana, but I designed this with Orléans in mind. Septem will have much, much more magical energy available to draw from, so there shouldn't be any trouble with fuel. And when you don't need it to get around…"
She pressed something on the handlebar, and then with startling ease, she folded the entire thing back up again until it was just a pair of wheels and metal bars, small enough to carry around like a backpack.
"Whoa," said Ritsuka.
Rika let out a deep, exaggerated sigh. "My feet are saved!"
"Top speed?" I asked.
"If you floor it, right around a hundred kilometers per hour," Da Vinci answered. "However, for the sake of safety, perhaps you should stay closer to fifty?"
"You won't be magically getting from one end of the Empire to the other in less than a day, no matter what," Romani clarified, "but these should make the journey much shorter and far less strenuous."
"I made four of them," Da Vinci said. She set the first down and pulled three more out of the box one after the other. "One each for the Masters and Mash, since the regular Servants can simply enter spirit form and travel that way."
"What about helmets?" Emiya interjected. "Moving at those speeds on an open vehicle isn't without risks."
Da Vinci looked at him with a smile and one eyebrow cocked. He sighed and shook his head, a helpless grin curling the edges of his mouth.
"Right. I got the hint. I'll take care of it."
"Like I said," Romani jumped back in, steering the conversation back on course, "we can't tell you much about what's happening inside the Singularity itself. We have no idea where the Grail is or who happens to be in possession of it. Whatever else might be different, that part remains the same. You have to find the Grail and either retrieve it or destroy it. The only other thing you can be certain of is that whoever has it won't give it up without a fight."
"Which probably means at least one enemy Servant," I added. Romani nodded.
"At the very least, the pattern has held so far that Servants have been involved each time. You can likely expect both friendly and hostile Servants. If you can, the more friendly Servants you recruit, the better off you'll be."
He checked his watch and nodded to himself.
"Okay. If there are no other questions, we should get moving. Everyone who is part of the initial Rayshift team, please head down to the Rayshift chamber."
"What about us?" Bradamante asked, gesturing to herself and Siegfried.
"It's better if you stay here, for the moment," said Romani. "If you like, you two can watch from my monitor. I won't promise it's all that interesting, though."
"I think I would like that," Siegfried said.
"Alright." Da Vinci stacked the four folded bikes back into the box and picked it up. "Rayshift team, let's go."
"Wait." I'd barely started to turn around when Romani called out to us again. "I've got just one more order for you guys. Well, it's really more like a request, but…"
He pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and then said, "All of you. Be safe, and… come back alive."
Mash straightened and gave a confident nod. "Right!"
"You got it, Doc!" Rika said brightly.
"Understood, Doctor Roman," said Ritsuka solemnly.
Romani looked to me last, and I met him straight in the eye. "I'll make sure they come back safely."
He smiled sadly, like he'd been expecting me to say something like that.
"Emiya, Arash," he said to them next, "I'll be expecting you to take care of them."
"I'll protect them with my life," Arash promised.
Emiya huffed and smirked, shooting an amused glance Arash's way. "You're sending the strongest Servant to accompany them," he said arrogantly. "There's nothing you need to worry about."
Very confident, aren't we?
I guess he had reason to be. After all, he was the only Servant who would get stronger the more Servants we fought. In that sense, summoning him was probably the best result we could have gotten, back then.
Romani sighed and gestured towards the door. "Okay. We've got a Singularity to correct. Get going, you guys."
"This way!" said Da Vinci.
Bradamante waved at us as we fell into step behind Da Vinci and made our way down into the Rayshift chamber. The closer we got, the more nervous the twins seemed to become, and even Mash was starting to get a little uncertain.
Was she remembering Jeanne Alter? Sticking my knife into her and watching her bleed out on the floor? I wish I knew whether Romani had had the chance to talk to her yet, but he was the sort to take doctor-patient confidentiality very seriously, and I didn't see him telling me how she was doing or what progress she might have been making, even if he had started counseling her.
The massive doors to the Rayshift Chamber loomed soon enough, and with a whir and a hydraulic hiss, they opened to admit our group. Like they had before the Orléans Singularity, four tubes, our Klein Coffins, jutted out of the floor like massive torpedoes.
Da Vinci strolled into the room without a care and deposited the box inside, and after a moment of hesitation, the twins and Mash followed her. I was frustrated to admit that there was even a hitch in my step as I remembered I was going to have to step into the confined space of my own coffin and a jolt of fear seized my lungs.
"Just like last time, everyone," Da Vinci said encouragingly.
After another moment of hesitation, the twins climbed in, although Mash seemed completely unafraid.
"Wasn't any better back then, either," Rika grumbled.
"It can't be helped," Ritsuka said to her.
"I know, I know…"
I had to readjust my backpack first, moving the bag so that my compacted ravens were sitting on my stomach instead of wedged between me and the back of my coffin, and then I climbed in, too. Da Vinci took the time to stop by on her way out of the room.
"It's not too late, you know," she whispered. "You could stay on standby with Bradamante and Siegfried."
My mouth drew into a scowl, and the anger served as a remarkably good distraction from the thundering of my pulse in my ears and the beating of my heart in my chest. I wasn't blind to miss the manipulation for what it was. She was trying to use my claustrophobia to convince me to sit the Rayshift out.
Not fucking likely.
My answer must have shown on my face, because before I could say anything, she sighed and shrugged. "It was worth a try."
No, it really wasn't.
She left, and a moment later, my coffin hissed as the glass door came down and closed, locking me in with a click. I closed my eyes and swallowed against the rising panic, forcing deep breaths into my lungs as I tried to think of anything else except for the fact that I was once more trapped inside that tiny little tube.
Outside, the intercom crackled to life and the computerized voice announced:
A chill swept down my body, and an entirely different kind of anticipation started to build inside of me, fighting against the rising fear.
I was about to get my powers back again.
Are you there, Passenger?
But like always, there was no answer. There never had been, there never would be. I had to believe it was listening, that it could hear me, if only because it was so much bigger and more powerful than I was, but whether it was or not, I'd never received any sign.
I let out a long breath and tried to calm my thundering heart. One day, I promised myself, I would be strong enough to step into this coffin without flinching. One day, the Locker would never have this sort of power over me. One day, I would rule this irrational fear instead of it ruling me.
Until then, all I could do was try to keep from panicking. I didn't have to be in here long. I wasn't going to be locked in with the shit and the blood for over an hour. It was only as long as it took for the Rayshift process to engage.
Once more, light suffused the coffin, so bright I could see it through my eyelids, and when I opened my eyes, the world fell away to welcome a canal of stars, and I was swept along. Carried by an unseen force, following an invisible path through the cosmos.
Next — Chapter XXXVI: Le Bel Inconnu
Nearly six weeks after our return from the Orléans Singularity, the day finally arrived to begin our journey into the Roman Singularity. I'd given Ritsuka and Rika the last three days off to rest, relax, and recharge, so I woke up that morning feeling rejuvenated and ready to go.
A brisk run on the treadmill banished any remnants of sleep, and then a hot shower eased away the soreness and tension left behind by exercise, and I entered the cafeteria refreshed and energized to eat another of Emiya's delicious breakfast meals. It might have just been an omelet, but he'd done something different, added some spices that I couldn't quite identify, and sprinkled bits of chopped bacon through the layer of cheese in the middle.
"Good morning, Miss Taylor," Mash called to me as I sat down. Fou, as he always seemed to be when we were in Chaldea, was perched on one shoulder, watching everything with his beady blue eyes.
"Morning, Mash," I replied.
The twins were sitting with her and eating their own breakfasts, but they were quiet and withdrawn, like the weight of the Rayshift to come was dragging them down, and they didn't even seem to know I was there, let alone greet me. They were already dressed and ready to go, otherwise, but even the normally energetic and bouncy Rika was subdued and lost in her own thoughts.
It reminded me a little of Endbringer briefings. We hadn't always had the time for a big, preparatory speech the way we had that fateful attack by Leviathan, but Defiant and Dragon's predictive program had given us more and more leeway with every attack, and things were always solemn and serious. Smiles had been far and few between, shared between old comrades and veteran survivors meeting up after a long while apart.
There was no room for joking or goofing off in the face of walking, city-destroying natural disasters.
Once my plate was clean and my glass was drained, I took it back to Emiya, who accepted it with a tight-lipped frown and an acknowledging nod.
"I made some quick and easy meals for you guys last night," he told me in a low, quiet voice. "It won't last you long, but it should hold everyone over for a day or two until you can find a big enough city. Longer, if you land close enough to make it there on the first day."
"Thank you."
He didn't reply except to give me another nod.
With my plate and tray delivered, I turned to leave the cafeteria and go pick up the rest of my supplies, but as I passed the twins, I was struck by the urge to say something encouraging, something to lift their spirits a little. The only trouble was, I didn't know what I should say.
What would Lisa say? I asked myself. How would she put them at ease?
It had been so long, I wasn't totally sure, but… It would probably be something like…
"Hey." My right hand came down to rest on Ritsuka's shoulder. "Relax a little. It's going to be fine. We got through Orléans, didn't we?"
They looked as surprised at what came out of my mouth as I was, or maybe they were just surprised I was being comforting and supportive. I knew that I'd been a little rough on them during our training sessions, but I wasn't that much of a hardass, was I? Sure, I wasn't the most cuddly, approachable person, but that didn't mean I was lacking in something as fundamental as compassion.
The twins didn't reply, they just kept looking at me, wide-eyed, so I gave Ritsuka's shoulder an awkward pat and made good my escape.
"Fou…" I heard the little gremlin whine behind me, somehow managing to sound confused.
Fuck. I just made things weird, didn't I? Damn it.
I distracted myself from stewing on it by going over a mental checklist of all of the things I was going to need for the Septem Singularity. Traveling relatively light was going to be essential. Whatever means Da Vinci had cooked up to make the travel times less of a problem, the inescapable fact of the matter was that we were going to be trekking across the entire European continent, this time.
Maybe if we were lucky, everything would be centered on Rome and we could get around in a few hours instead of weeks, but I wasn't holding my breath on that one. Life had taught me that particular lesson too many times for me to hope it would be that easy.
So, the twins just had their Mystic Codes. They didn't have any other equipment to carry with them. The job of carrying the rations that Emiya made and whatever we might pick up along the way (whether in the field or as a supply drop from Romani), that would have to go to them. Them and Mash, although it was probably a better idea to have Mash as unencumbered as possible, in case she had to leap to our defense.
As for the others, making plans for who should carry what was probably a bit moot. Shakespeare I disregarded immediately, because it seemed obvious he would stay here, but as for who would be coming with us and who would be staying in reserve for emergencies, I hadn't been briefed on that. Emiya had a lot of utility in a lot of ways, so I could see them sending him with us right off the bat, but Arash and Siegfried were both powerhouses.
If I had the choice — and I technically did, as leader of the field team, but I'd be a fool to ignore the opinion of Leonardo fucking da Vinci — I think I would have picked Siegfried. He was an excellent combination of offense and defense, capable of outputting raw damage and taking heavy hits, and he was the only reason we had managed to kill Dracule at all. Arash was incredible as an Archer, but if Emiya was coming along, then that niche was technically already filled.
Bradamante… She wasn't necessarily weak, if she fought off one of Jeanne Alter's Servants by herself. But while she could probably fit the role of frontline attacker, Siegfried was just better at it. If we weren't taking everyone along from the get-go, I couldn't see her being part of the initial field team.
With all of that in mind, what could I feasibly take with me?
My communicator, obviously. The nano-thorn dagger, my Last Resort, that was a no-brainer, too. A book, something to do in case we had to sit around for a while again… If I did, it would have to be something small and light so that it didn't weigh me down. A paperback. The Da Vinci Code, maybe, a novel that hadn't existed on Earth Bet. I'd bought it on a whim to tweak Da Vinci's nose way back when — a fit of pique when I was missing Lisa a little too keenly — and never read it.
That just left my puppets.
When we started the Orléans Singularity, I had left them behind because they were useless without the multitasking that I'd taken for granted as a cape. Now, with my powers back, they were worth their weight in gold. So about six pounds, total.
They had a storage mode, where they collapsed into innocuous cylinders that might be mistaken for a pair of thermoses at first glance, but I couldn't see myself storing them away all that often inside Septem. Unlike my bugs, the range limit on my ravens was a matter of how far away they could still receive my "signal" and keep working properly instead of an arbitrary distance limit set by an alien supercomputer as part of one, gigantic game.
I worried, for an instant, about what might happen when someone finally realized that the ravens weren't natural creatures and instead my puppets — an Archer, for instance, who would be able to pick them off before I even realized something was wrong — because they were far less expendable tools than my bugs were and much more difficult to replace. But it was the silly, childish fear of a little girl scared of breaking her favorite toys, and it passed just as quickly.
They were just too useful, in the end. Quantity was a quality all its own, and I'd gone to great lengths to maximize the usefulness of my swarm, set them upon my enemies from unexpected directions in unexpected ways, but as the wyverns in Orléans had proven, there was a limit to what I could do with even that. My ravens should help bridge the gap with enemies that required the extra oomph of actual magic.
By the time I made it back to my room, I'd mostly decided, so it was as easy as flitting about to actually grab it all. My knife and its holster were strapped back on, a few miscellaneous supplies gathered — a couple hair ties for if I needed them at any point, for example — and when I had everything else, I carefully sandwiched my ravens into the sling bag whose strap I fastened across my chest.
I was patting myself down to make sure I'd gotten everything when a knock sounded at my door and it whooshed open. Da Vinci's smiling face was on the other side.
"Oh, it looks like you're ready," she said pleasantly.
I nodded.
"Time for the briefing?"
"I just came from telling Ritsuka and Rika," she told me in lieu of a direct answer. She looked at my backpack. "You're taking the ravens along with you, this time?"
"My problems with multitasking before were the only reason I left them behind," was the answer I gave her. "With my powers back, I don't have to worry about that anymore, so I can use them as much as I want. No sense in leaving a pair of my best weapons behind."
Da Vinci's lips pulled into a frown for a moment, although I didn't understand why, but it was gone and the smile was back before I could ask what was on her mind.
"Perhaps we should start calling you Hrafnaguð, then," she teased.
I scowled at her, but that only seemed to make her laugh. "It's not like I had tons of good options. 'Blackie' and 'Spot' were the next options down on my list."
That only made her laugh harder, and I had to fight to keep my own smile from breaking out across my face.
"Well, maybe it doesn't fit that well anyway." She tapped at her cheek beneath her left eye. "After all, it was your arm you lost, not your eye, so it doesn't quite fit."
"You're hilarious," I told her dryly.
"I'm a genius," she retorted smugly. "Humor is but one of my many talents."
Because the greatest polymath in history apparently needed more of them. If Achilles had been dipped in the River Styx and gained an immortal body, then Da Vinci must have been dipped in the River Lethe and gained unfathomable wisdom.
I sighed and shook my head. "Let's just get going."
Da Vinci stepped back into the hallway and gestured with that ridiculously oversized gauntlet she insisted on wearing over her left arm. "After you."
A muscle in my cheek jumped, but I took the invitation for what it was and stepped out of my room. The door closed behind me with another hydraulic whoosh, and when I started off towards the Command Room, Da Vinci fell into step next to me.
"You know, I don't understand why you went with ravens," she said conversationally. "Any number of options and the aid of a celebrated genius in bringing them to life, and you decided on something both special and mundane."
Special and mundane? What was that supposed to mean?
"Why do you think I chose ravens?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," she chirped. "You see, Orléans showed me even more that you prefer brutal efficiency and utilitarianism over flash and style. One would think you preferred more humanoid puppets to make use of in that case, for their sheer versatility and available real estate, so to speak, or perhaps something that could blend in no matter where it went, which I suppose ravens can do. They're a pretty ubiquitous species, after all. They wouldn't look out of place throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere."
She hummed thoughtfully.
"Of course, there are plenty of other animals with a universal enough spread to be equally as useful," she went on. "A dog or a cat, perhaps, or maybe a wolf. Yes, yes, dogs or cats would be less conspicuous to bring about with you, wouldn't they? They might be easily mistaken for an ordinary pet or a simple familiar. Ravens are less common companions and therefore more easily suspected. More suspicious to have them out and about with you." She sighed. "And of course, the part that I keep stumbling over, ravens just have fewer offensive and defensive options, both in terms of 'natural' weapons and in the amount of space they have internally to carry different armaments."
"They're also harder to catch," I countered mildly. "They don't need as much in the way of options because they're not stuck on the ground when the fighting begins. What they lack in sturdiness they make up for in maneuverability and height advantage."
"True," she agreed. "I suppose that makes some sense, as well. If you're used to having bugs as familiars, then you're used to having a higher vantage point of the action — ah. That's it, isn't it? You like having a bird's eye view of what's going on when you're fighting, quite literally."
That was part of it, but… Well, as embarrassing as it was to admit it, it was even simpler than that. A bit childish, even, which was why I didn't admit it out loud.
"Yeah."
I'd always wanted to fly. I hadn't hit the power jackpot with mine and gotten flight, but the flight pack Dragon had made for me later on had let me shore up that bit, and while I'd mostly gotten over the childish joy of flying by that point, there was something that remained incredible about flying under (mostly) my own power.
The sensory input from my ravens wasn't as complete as it was for my bugs, but it made up for it by also being closer to human than bugs' senses were. And that meant that I could experience, in some diluted, minor way, what it was like to feel the wind under their wings as they soared high up in the air.
It was probably the closest I was ever going to get to flying again.
"I suppose that does suit you," said Da Vinci. "Yes, you have a tendency to approach situations from lateral angles instead of head on, the way you defeated Dracul. And Jeanne Alter, come to think of it, and Saber Alter in Fuyuki."
"In another life, I used my bugs to set up tricks and traps with silk thread," I agreed. "Caught plenty of people off guard with that."
Da Vinci huffed a quiet chuckle.
"I'm not so sure you could still call it another life, since you've introduced the twins to that sort of thing so intimately. Wouldn't that be more like falling into old habits?"
My cheek twitched, but I managed to fight down the smile again.
"Weren't you the one praising me for capturing the experience of fighting a Caster in her own territory so well?"
"Isn't that the same as calling you a competent magus?" she shot back, grinning. "The same adage applies, remember. Magi are more dangerous in their workshops than not, the same as Casters."
"Be careful Sylvia doesn't hear you say that," I said, "she might get insulted."
Da Vinci chuckled again. "Very few of the magi who joined Chaldea are as much 'proper magi' as I'm sure you've heard horror stories about. She might take it as a compliment to be compared to you."
Somehow, I doubted that. I was barely what they called a mere spellcaster, let alone anything resembling a proper magus. Even the lowliest magus from the Mage's Association would probably point and laugh at my skill with magic.
Well. I was fine with that. Magic was just another tool. What did the opinions of a bunch of empty-headed academics matter to someone who wielded it as a weapon?
Before long, we reached the Command Room, where Romani and the twins were already waiting with our Servants — minus Shakespeare — gathered around in a small, uncomfortable cluster. Several of the technicians on duty kept sneaking glances towards them, like this was the first time they'd seen Servants up close and personal. It probably was, actually.
"And there's the rest of the group," Romani said with a smile. "Good morning. I was just telling Ritsuka, Rika, and Mash about how we're going to handle the Rayshift for this Singularity."
Rika fidgeted nervously, as though the mere mention of it made her antsy, and even her brother was a bit jittery, although he hid it better than she did.
"Good morning, Romani!" Da Vinci said brightly.
"We're doing something different than last time?" I asked, cutting right to the point. Romani's smile grew a little wider, like he'd expected that and found it funny.
"With the Orléans Singularity, we only had Mash and Emiya on staff for our Servants," he explained. "We were also still fixing the damage from the sabotage, so we had to be much more careful about how much we stressed our systems, and that had something to do with our decisions about how conservative we had to be."
"Which is why I had to stay behind during the initial Rayshift," Emiya intoned with a nod.
"That was part of it, yes," Romani confirmed. "Well, this time, we're much better off than we were back then, and we now have a second Grail to power both the facility and support the four Servants we've picked up since then — Arash, Siegfried, Bradamante, and Shakespeare. Not everything is fixed yet, and not everything is completely repaired yet, but we're far more confident in our position than we were before."
He swept his gaze across the assembled group.
"That's why it's been decided that our initial group will consist of Mash, Taylor, Ritsuka, and Rika, accompanied by Emiya and Arash."
Bradamante made a sound of dismay that might generously be compared to a cat being strangled, and Siegfried's face drew into a troubled look. "We won't all be accompanying them?"
"It's true that the Grails that Mash and the others collected from Fuyuki and Orléans have bolstered our ability to support multiple Servant contracts," Da Vinci jumped in, "but even with the support of such massive wellsprings of magical energy, the strain on the Masters is not insignificant. Three Masters lets us send more Servants at once, but even with that, we have to be careful."
"They seemed just fine in Orléans!" Bradamante insisted.
"Truly, I noticed no apparent strain on my Master," Siegfried agreed. "She supported myself and Lord Arash without much difficulty."
Until the Noble Phantasms started coming out, I admitted in the privacy of my own head. Even then, the strain had been more on my Magic Circuits than on my reserves of energy.
"I'm guessing you have a reason we're not just sending everyone," Arash said.
"Da Vinci and I discussed this in depth," said Romani. "When we reviewed the data from Orléans, we realized just how many stray Servants the team ran into over the course of resolving the Singularity. Despite that, the only new contracts we picked up were technically just Siegfried and Arash, and Arash was manually summoned by Taylor. On the other hand, Bradamante's contract was registered in an unusual way, so it's actually shared between all three of the Masters."
Oh. I thought I saw where this was going.
"You want to keep our options open for recruiting more Servants," I said.
Romani nodded. "Since we don't know what we might be facing in future Singularities, it's a good idea to hedge our bets and contract as many Servants as we feasibly can. At the very least, for those we can't bring back with you guys at the end of the Singularity, we should record their Saint Graphs to the FATE system so we can attempt to summon them at a later date."
Rika chuckled quietly, and under her breath, I heard her mutter, "The real treasure was the friends we made along the way."
Romani apparently heard her, too, because he smiled. "Something like that, yeah."
"There's also another matter to consider," said Da Vinci. "While it's true that Siegfried and Bradamante are both powerful Servants, they also had some relation to the situation in Orléans, yes? Bradamante is technically a French Servant, and Siegfried is a dragonslayer, well-suited to fighting the wyverns burning the country down. In that case, rather than sending you into Septem with as much firepower as we can, the better idea might be to let you make contracts with the native Servants, who may be better suited to handling the specific situation — no offense, you two."
"Ah, it's fine!" said Bradamante at the same time as Siegfried's solemn, "None was taken."
"So," Bradamante began, "does that mean we're sitting out the whole Singularity?"
"What if we need their help?" Ritsuka asked.
"We may run into another situation like with Fafnir," Mash agreed. "Without Siegfried and the others, doesn't that put us in more danger?"
Romani turned to Da Vinci, who told them, "Currently, I'm working on a system that would allow more rapid response summonings when we need them, which will let us cut down on overall strain while still allowing any of our Servants to respond when called, but for now… Yes. Unless the situation changes, all Servants who aren't part of the initial Rayshift will remain on standby."
Bradamante groaned and deflated. "I'll never get to show my stuff at this rate."
"In the meantime," said Romani, "it's not the best solution, but between Emiya's barrier spell and Mash's Noble Phantasm, you should have enough defense to hold off the enemy until we can send reinforcements."
"Even if the time differential turns out to be as bad as you think it might?" I asked.
Romani grimaced and turned to Da Vinci again.
"Once I can get this system working properly, calling in reinforcements should be something you can do entirely from your end," Da Vinci answered. "For now… Yes. I'm afraid even our best response time to sending you reinforcements is likely to be anywhere from one minute to five, on your end."
"Is there any way for Chaldea's sensors to detect whether an approaching Servant is hostile?" Mash asked.
"So we can know whether to send in reinforcements before the fighting even gets started, you mean?" Romani shook his head. "I'm sorry. Unfortunately, something like that is just impossible, even for SHEBA or TRISMEGISTUS. Divining the intent of an approaching Servant is still more the realm of psychology than anything else. Raw numbers can't be used to suss that out."
"You'll just have to use your best judgement," Da Vinci chimed in.
"Are there any other concerns?" Romani's gaze swept across the entire group. Neither Siegfried nor Bradamante looked particularly pleased with being left behind, but Siegfried at least seemed to have accepted the explanation.
"I don't like it," Bradamante muttered mutinously. "I didn't join up just to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else rush into danger!"
"If you think you can do a better job of defending the Masters," Da Vinci said shrewdly, "then I'm sure Emiya or Arash would be happy to switch places with you."
"Wait," Romani interjected, panic on his face, "hold on, that's not what we —" Da Vinci must have shot him a warning look, because he cut himself off and suddenly changed tacks. "I mean, yeah. We can arrange a change in the roster if you think you can do the job better."
Bradamante immediately backpedaled. "N-not at all! I'm sure Sir Emiya and Lord Arash are perfectly capable of protecting everyone! I just don't want to be left behind! Th-that's all I meant! I didn't mean to insult anyone at all!"
Emiya chuckled quietly, and from the small smile on his face, Arash recognized the ploy for what it was, too. Even the twins seemed to realize that Bradamante had just been played like a fiddle.
"I'll tell you what," said Romani. "If the number of contracts the team picks up with stray Servants in the Septem Singularity is lower than expected, you'll be the first one sent in to fill out the team. Does that work for you?"
Bradamante sighed. "I suppose it must," she lamented. "Still! For the next Singularity, I insist on being a part of the vanguard!"
Romani smiled. "We'll see how things work out, but I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Again, he looked around the group. "Anyone else?"
No one spoke up, and he nodded.
"Let's get the rest of the briefing over with, then."
He walked over to his terminal, the Director's terminal, and started typing on the keyboard as we all huddled around him. The massive multi-paneled screen flickered and changed as he brought up the map of the currently known Singularities again. A moment later, it honed in on the one located in Rome and brought up the details.
Rome, Italy
AD 0060
Human Order Foundation Value: B+
AD 0060
Human Order Foundation Value: B+
"The source of the next Singularity is Rome during the year 60 AD," Romani explained. "We can't tell you much about what's going on in there, but during proper history, this was smack dab in the middle of Emperor Nero's reign. Insofar as what is being disrupted? We don't know for sure, but it's likely that what is trying to be changed or altered is the fall of the Roman Empire. Either someone is trying to prevent it, or someone is trying to make it happen sooner."
"Either one is bad," Da Vinci added. "The Roman Empire needed to fall for history to progress forward, but there are a number of things that needed to happen before it did. 60 AD is far, far too early."
"Right." Romani nodded. "There's also a bit of bad news."
He typed something out, and a red line drew itself around Britain, the entirety of Europe, the Mediterranean, and a relatively thin sliver of Northern Africa.
"As far as we can tell, this is the amount of land covered by the Singularity."
A distressed sound squeaked out of Rika's throat, like a groan that had been strangled before it made it all the way out of her mouth. "W-what?"
"H-how," Ritsuka stammered faintly, "are we supposed to cover that much ground?"
"Well," Romani began, "ideally, you'll land right where we want you to and walking to Rome, the capital city, will take all of about twenty minutes."
"And if we don't?" Mash asked. "Doctor, Senpai can't possibly walk across the entire Roman Empire! Miss Taylor, either!"
"I'm not sure they'd appreciate being carried the entire way, either," Emiya said.
"A-absolutely not!" Rika yelped, her voice an entire octave higher than normal.
"You said you had a plan for dealing with this," I cut in.
"Right." Romani cleared his throat. "Da Vinci, if you would?"
"Of course."
Da Vinci stepped away and went over to a corner of the room to retrieve a plain, white, cardboard box that I hadn't noticed before, the emblem of Chaldea printed on the side. She brought it over towards us and set it down with a thud, then reached inside and pulled out…a metal harness holding a pair of wheels.
"Hup!"
But with a flick of her wrist, the harness unfolded and the bars snapped into place until she was holding a small bicycle by the handlebar. She smiled at us. "Ta-da!"
"A…bicycle?" Ritsuka muttered curiously.
"Not just any bicycle!"
"It's an e-bike," I realized when I spotted the compact motor attached beneath the seat.
Da Vinci pouted, but it turned quickly into a secretive smile and she wagged the index finger of her free hand.
"It's not just an e-bike, either," she said smugly. "It's an ultra-special Da Vinci custom e-bike, mark one!"
I rolled my eyes.
"What's the difference?" Rika asked.
"It runs on magical energy," said Da Vinci. She gestured to the motor, which was actually less than half the size of the ones I'd seen on Earth Bet. "The motor you see here has a condenser installed that absorbs ambient mana from the atmosphere and converts it into power. If you needed to, you could use some of your own mana, but I designed this with Orléans in mind. Septem will have much, much more magical energy available to draw from, so there shouldn't be any trouble with fuel. And when you don't need it to get around…"
She pressed something on the handlebar, and then with startling ease, she folded the entire thing back up again until it was just a pair of wheels and metal bars, small enough to carry around like a backpack.
"Whoa," said Ritsuka.
Rika let out a deep, exaggerated sigh. "My feet are saved!"
"Top speed?" I asked.
"If you floor it, right around a hundred kilometers per hour," Da Vinci answered. "However, for the sake of safety, perhaps you should stay closer to fifty?"
"You won't be magically getting from one end of the Empire to the other in less than a day, no matter what," Romani clarified, "but these should make the journey much shorter and far less strenuous."
"I made four of them," Da Vinci said. She set the first down and pulled three more out of the box one after the other. "One each for the Masters and Mash, since the regular Servants can simply enter spirit form and travel that way."
"What about helmets?" Emiya interjected. "Moving at those speeds on an open vehicle isn't without risks."
Da Vinci looked at him with a smile and one eyebrow cocked. He sighed and shook his head, a helpless grin curling the edges of his mouth.
"Right. I got the hint. I'll take care of it."
"Like I said," Romani jumped back in, steering the conversation back on course, "we can't tell you much about what's happening inside the Singularity itself. We have no idea where the Grail is or who happens to be in possession of it. Whatever else might be different, that part remains the same. You have to find the Grail and either retrieve it or destroy it. The only other thing you can be certain of is that whoever has it won't give it up without a fight."
"Which probably means at least one enemy Servant," I added. Romani nodded.
"At the very least, the pattern has held so far that Servants have been involved each time. You can likely expect both friendly and hostile Servants. If you can, the more friendly Servants you recruit, the better off you'll be."
He checked his watch and nodded to himself.
"Okay. If there are no other questions, we should get moving. Everyone who is part of the initial Rayshift team, please head down to the Rayshift chamber."
"What about us?" Bradamante asked, gesturing to herself and Siegfried.
"It's better if you stay here, for the moment," said Romani. "If you like, you two can watch from my monitor. I won't promise it's all that interesting, though."
"I think I would like that," Siegfried said.
"Alright." Da Vinci stacked the four folded bikes back into the box and picked it up. "Rayshift team, let's go."
"Wait." I'd barely started to turn around when Romani called out to us again. "I've got just one more order for you guys. Well, it's really more like a request, but…"
He pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and then said, "All of you. Be safe, and… come back alive."
Mash straightened and gave a confident nod. "Right!"
"You got it, Doc!" Rika said brightly.
"Understood, Doctor Roman," said Ritsuka solemnly.
Romani looked to me last, and I met him straight in the eye. "I'll make sure they come back safely."
He smiled sadly, like he'd been expecting me to say something like that.
"Emiya, Arash," he said to them next, "I'll be expecting you to take care of them."
"I'll protect them with my life," Arash promised.
Emiya huffed and smirked, shooting an amused glance Arash's way. "You're sending the strongest Servant to accompany them," he said arrogantly. "There's nothing you need to worry about."
Very confident, aren't we?
I guess he had reason to be. After all, he was the only Servant who would get stronger the more Servants we fought. In that sense, summoning him was probably the best result we could have gotten, back then.
Romani sighed and gestured towards the door. "Okay. We've got a Singularity to correct. Get going, you guys."
"This way!" said Da Vinci.
Bradamante waved at us as we fell into step behind Da Vinci and made our way down into the Rayshift chamber. The closer we got, the more nervous the twins seemed to become, and even Mash was starting to get a little uncertain.
Was she remembering Jeanne Alter? Sticking my knife into her and watching her bleed out on the floor? I wish I knew whether Romani had had the chance to talk to her yet, but he was the sort to take doctor-patient confidentiality very seriously, and I didn't see him telling me how she was doing or what progress she might have been making, even if he had started counseling her.
The massive doors to the Rayshift Chamber loomed soon enough, and with a whir and a hydraulic hiss, they opened to admit our group. Like they had before the Orléans Singularity, four tubes, our Klein Coffins, jutted out of the floor like massive torpedoes.
Da Vinci strolled into the room without a care and deposited the box inside, and after a moment of hesitation, the twins and Mash followed her. I was frustrated to admit that there was even a hitch in my step as I remembered I was going to have to step into the confined space of my own coffin and a jolt of fear seized my lungs.
"Just like last time, everyone," Da Vinci said encouragingly.
After another moment of hesitation, the twins climbed in, although Mash seemed completely unafraid.
"Wasn't any better back then, either," Rika grumbled.
"It can't be helped," Ritsuka said to her.
"I know, I know…"
I had to readjust my backpack first, moving the bag so that my compacted ravens were sitting on my stomach instead of wedged between me and the back of my coffin, and then I climbed in, too. Da Vinci took the time to stop by on her way out of the room.
"It's not too late, you know," she whispered. "You could stay on standby with Bradamante and Siegfried."
My mouth drew into a scowl, and the anger served as a remarkably good distraction from the thundering of my pulse in my ears and the beating of my heart in my chest. I wasn't blind to miss the manipulation for what it was. She was trying to use my claustrophobia to convince me to sit the Rayshift out.
Not fucking likely.
My answer must have shown on my face, because before I could say anything, she sighed and shrugged. "It was worth a try."
No, it really wasn't.
She left, and a moment later, my coffin hissed as the glass door came down and closed, locking me in with a click. I closed my eyes and swallowed against the rising panic, forcing deep breaths into my lungs as I tried to think of anything else except for the fact that I was once more trapped inside that tiny little tube.
Outside, the intercom crackled to life and the computerized voice announced:
UNSUMMON PROGRAM START
SPIRITRON CONVERSION START
SPIRITRON CONVERSION START
A chill swept down my body, and an entirely different kind of anticipation started to build inside of me, fighting against the rising fear.
I was about to get my powers back again.
Are you there, Passenger?
But like always, there was no answer. There never had been, there never would be. I had to believe it was listening, that it could hear me, if only because it was so much bigger and more powerful than I was, but whether it was or not, I'd never received any sign.
I let out a long breath and tried to calm my thundering heart. One day, I promised myself, I would be strong enough to step into this coffin without flinching. One day, the Locker would never have this sort of power over me. One day, I would rule this irrational fear instead of it ruling me.
Until then, all I could do was try to keep from panicking. I didn't have to be in here long. I wasn't going to be locked in with the shit and the blood for over an hour. It was only as long as it took for the Rayshift process to engage.
RAYSHIFTING STARTING IN 3…
2…
1…
2…
1…
Once more, light suffused the coffin, so bright I could see it through my eyelids, and when I opened my eyes, the world fell away to welcome a canal of stars, and I was swept along. Carried by an unseen force, following an invisible path through the cosmos.
ALL PROCEDURES CLEARED
GRAND ORDER COMMENCING OPERATION
— o.0.O.O.0.o —GRAND ORDER COMMENCING OPERATION
Another big chapter. Well, no one wanted to just shut up and get on with it, so there was a lot of dialogue this chapter. I hope I covered everything to a satisfactory level before we start off the next Singularity in Chapter 36.
If I need to explain the Hrafnaguð joke, then I think I've failed somewhere along the line.
I'd like to take credit for the bikes, but the idea of using bicycles to get around was mentioned somewhere here on the thread, and I went, "You know, I think I can do one better than that." What you saw this chapter was the result of that.
Special thanks to everyone who has helped me out, and especially to all my Patrons who have stayed with me this far, through all the rocky moments and dry stretches. You guys are the best, and your continued support is invaluable.
If you like what you're reading and want to support me as a writer so I can pay the bills, I have a Patreon. If Patreon is too long term, I have a Ko-fi page, too. If you want to commission something from me, check out either my Deviantart post or my artist registry page for my rates. Links in my sig. Every little bit helps keep me afloat, even if you can only afford a couple dollars.
If I need to explain the Hrafnaguð joke, then I think I've failed somewhere along the line.
I'd like to take credit for the bikes, but the idea of using bicycles to get around was mentioned somewhere here on the thread, and I went, "You know, I think I can do one better than that." What you saw this chapter was the result of that.
Special thanks to everyone who has helped me out, and especially to all my Patrons who have stayed with me this far, through all the rocky moments and dry stretches. You guys are the best, and your continued support is invaluable.
If you like what you're reading and want to support me as a writer so I can pay the bills, I have a Patreon. If Patreon is too long term, I have a Ko-fi page, too. If you want to commission something from me, check out either my Deviantart post or my artist registry page for my rates. Links in my sig. Every little bit helps keep me afloat, even if you can only afford a couple dollars.
- Location
- Elsewhere
"I know all of your secrets!"
"..."
"Okay, maybe not traditionally comforting, but you don't have to worry about me losing respect for you!"
As far as I know, Da Vinci wasn't really known for tactics, or strategy, or leadership.
"It hasn't exploded like the mark 0."
"Yet."
It is worth pointing out that no matter how good the engine is, going at 100kph on roman roads is going to be rough.
johnwedd
Above Average man
- Location
- usa
Anyone wanna take bets on if taylor runs into arachni. The shear amount of problems that "might" happen would have a dramatic tension all its own. The shear tonnage of that face off would be glorious.
Edit: either that or Arachne will immediately glom onto her and want to be her mom/sempai.
Edit: either that or Arachne will immediately glom onto her and want to be her mom/sempai.
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Windborne
Devourer of Stories
- Location
- Oregon
Fun chapter as always, looks like the Servant Shade system is getting ready. I hope this next arc is longer, just rushing from place to place like in Orleans would be bad.
Given how many Canon Servants exist, and in Septem in particular, I sincerely hope we don't see any OC Servants. There's plenty of options for established characters to shine. Frankly @James D. Fawkes will have a hard enough time covering them all regardless, he doesn't need to add to his troubles by introducing other completely new characters he'd have to create pretty much from the ground up. Plus as I've argued in the past, the Singularities really shouldn't have any roster changes since they're a universal constant of the Nasuverse.
Given how many Canon Servants exist, and in Septem in particular, I sincerely hope we don't see any OC Servants. There's plenty of options for established characters to shine. Frankly @James D. Fawkes will have a hard enough time covering them all regardless, he doesn't need to add to his troubles by introducing other completely new characters he'd have to create pretty much from the ground up. Plus as I've argued in the past, the Singularities really shouldn't have any roster changes since they're a universal constant of the Nasuverse.
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James D. Fawkes
Court Scribe
- Location
- Avalon (Isle of Mists)
Let me put it this way. I'm in the middle of Chapter 44, and Nero still has not yet been encountered.
Windborne
Devourer of Stories
- Location
- Oregon
Sounds fun! Honestly it should be interesting. Though from what I remember she's encountered fairly early into the Singularity in Canon. Might be wrong on that, Septem is easily the haziest Singularity in my memory.
johnwedd
Above Average man
- Location
- usa
As in all things in fate lore, I will follow the golden rule. Don't worry about it.
However, what would you say to an omake or two on if taylor came up in fate/zero, stay night, or any holy grail war.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Heh, she tried to be encouraging and instead was bewildering.
If anything, considering this is a magical time period and roads are one of the things Rome is famous for, I'd expect travel on them to be magically smooth and efficient
- Location
- Leeds
Unless they have magically smooth cobbles...
Blinktwice13
Underpaid Struggle Bus Attendant
- Location
- Eastern US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Personally, I'd see Da Vinci working some adaptable magecraft insanity to turn the E-Bikes into ATVs with ultra-stabilizers or whatever. Something to keep the ride at something approaching tolerable and not, you know, jostling the teeth out of the Masters' heads. Especially at the speeds indicated.
if i remember this right, hrafnaguð means raven god, and is one of odin's many names
fairly sure the locker only had used tampons and bugs inside, along with whatever taylor accidentally vomited into it.
wasn't nero like litteraly next hill over when they're summoned to septem? something must've gone wrong for them to not meet nero even 10 chapters later
- Location
- Elsewhere
But they'd still be optimized for wagons drawn by animals, which is different from roads optimized for bikes.
Either way, looking forward to seeing best Emperor Nero, umu!
Axel
Tenno Wax
- Location
- Italy
- Pronouns
- He
Murphy licks his lips: What was the button for the god-killer again?
So EMIYA for utility and flexibility and Arash if an enemy outclasses them?
- Location
- SoCal
Good point, it's not just a question of how smooth they are but wagon ruts are a good way to eat bike wheels.
Isiri Pudireach
Predictive text can go duck itself
Of course, since Da Vinci knows that they will be going off road so these bikes are likely closer to dirtbikes.