Maybe I'm a Lion (KnK/Prototype Crossover)

[Dullahan]

^^ Yeah, he does. And all of their memories and magical skills as well, in accordance with the well-known "Archer's Left Arm" principle. Fortunately, Lio won't have to deal with his body turning into swords or something annoying like that because (a) none of the KnK Magi use a type of magecraft wholly derived from their own Reality Marble, or indeed have Reality Marbles at all (unless you could count Hounouden Rokujyuyonshou as a partial example) and (b) because his body is already made of BLACKLIGHT/lions, so anything else can just bugger off.

^ Have no fear. Ryougi's too awesome to get consumed.

[Dimensionist]

SO. AWESOME.

Best story I have ever read. Period. The only thing that comes close is the War of Kings CG/F/SN crossover by Pale Wolf.

I'll be following this, no matter where it goes.

[FlameStrike]

We can assume Lio is going to get some SERIOUS FIREPOWER soon since there's no way Alba is going to be able to defeat Lio. Sure his fire is enough to burn him to death, but like hell is he going to hit with it. FIREBREATHING LIONS, it'll be glorious.

[Guardian of the Box]

I registered just to tell you how much I love you.

Best thing I've read in months, and I read a lot.

[nick012000]

I wonder if he's going to wind up meeting Zelretch when he inevitably winds up getting dragged up in front of the Mage's Association. Meeting canon!Mercer and his alternate selves would probably be amusing to watch.

Also, Saber Lion. King of the Wild. Which one is hungrier?

[Blinker]

Dragged into the Mage's Association? Not likely if he can devour Cornelius Alba and Araya Souren fast enough.

[Delcer]

I doubt something as ridiculous as Zelretch appearing to drag him away will happen. He's usually only used when Nasu or authors want to do some deus ex machina shit; he's always used badly.

But Lio masquerading as Cornelius or Araya to hide out at the association I can imagine.

[nick012000]

I doubt something as ridiculous as Zelretch appearing to drag him away will happen. He's usually only used when Nasu or authors want to do some deus ex machina shit; he's always used badly.

But Lio masquerading as Cornelius or Araya to hide out at the association I can imagine.

If they found out about his ability to increase his own Magecraft by eating mages, he'd almost certainly be slapped with a Sealing Designation.

Hmm. If he ate one of Zelretch's apprentices, and gained (a part of) the Second that way, or if he ate False Assassin...

I do remain hopeful he'll meet Saber Lion, though, if only in an Omake. XD

[FlameStrike]

Whether it be Blackwatch or the Magus Association, I don't think either group has the power to drag Lio anywhere in his current state. You'd need something with servant tier power to put him down (That or a well placed MEoDP dot stab). It would be interesting if the Magi worked together with Blackwatch though, but seeing as their both super secrete organizations that would be highly unlikely.

Imagine if Lio ate Nrvnqsr(Or vice versa?), would the 666 beasts overpower his psyche and reduce his mind to chaos? Even Nrvnqsr with his reality marble is starting to dissolve, and Lio has enough trouble with his Lion impulses. But if he overcame the beasts and mastered them, he'd become a most terrifying monster, even more than his current form.

[Delcer]

^I don't think he's strong enough to match Araya within the apartment as of yet, not with only 5 people.

I have a question Dullahan.

So prior to Blacklight, the Impulse was slowly eroding Lio's sanity, it urged him to consume humans and would only grow stronger regardless of whether he did so or not. Because of Blacklight he can stave off the insanity, but in order to do so he requires the minds of even more humans. Am I understanding everything correctly thus far?

So no matter how many humans Lio consumes the Impulse will still continue growing? Is there a threshold of minds that negates it completely, or does he require periodic intake?

[linkhyrule5]

Basically, he's diluting his Origin with more people. Since he's not only Lio anymore, he can use other people's wills and Origins to stave off his own. I think there'll be a threshold where he doesn't need to worry about it anymore.

[Garlak]

So what's this meant to be, anyway? I'm fairly certain this kind of feature wasn't included by the manufacturer. Air conditioners don't run on high explosives. That's ridiculous. So, what, there's some kind of bomb inside the fan assembly? Who the hell puts a bomb there? What kind of idiotic, terminally brain-damaged terrorist puts his bomb on a fucking rooftop? You probably wouldn't even kill anyone. It's not even summer, so losing an A/C unit couldn't even be called an inconvenience, really.

Is this real? Is this an actual thing that is happening to me? I'm seriously beginning to wonder if I'm hallucinating this. Ordinarily, because of my metabolism, my own product doesn't really have an effect on me, but maybe-

Beep, beep.

please tell me that that is not what i think it is

This? Was quite possibly my favorite part. Definitely one of the funniest, at any rate.

The sheer... indignant disbelief and denial really sold it for me. It wasn't despair so much as denial-and/or-acknowledgement of a hilariously fucked up and twisted world which had made such a contrived situation possible.

This tone appears throughout the whole story, and it has been lots of fun to read.

[Dullahan]

Another short (~4k words) update today. I wanted to get this one out of the way so I can work on a longer, Lio-focused update which will be coming up next.

-----------------------------------
Garan no Dou


“'yo.” says the voice, a single mumbled syllable immediately following the sound of the door closing behind it. It's eight o'clock in the morning, a peculiar time characterised by low-angled sunlight from the east and the smell of coffee, situated exactly halfway between 'too damn late' and 'too damn early'. It's autumn, and this is considered normal.

“I take it that's all I'm going to get out of you by way of a greeting, Shiki?” asks a deskbound person to whom a pair of glasses and a red ponytail are attached, speaking in a good-natured, mean-spirited kind of way. The kimono-clad woman who's just walked in yawns in a smooth, catlike stretching action, removing her red, fur-lined leather jacket and hanging it on an inexplicably positioned coat stand as she does so.

“Could you tell?” asks Shiki Ryougi with a more than a faint trace of annoyance. The woman sitting behind a desk piled high with papers, binders, and other such inexplicable knick-knacks of a no-doubt eldritch nature points at one of the numerous television sets populating the wall opposite. There's a news broadcast on.

“-ccording a press release issued by the US Air Force, a helicopter undergoing systems tests was brought down over Nerima Ward last night by a critical engine failure. It seems that electronic interference from the thunderstorm-

“That's not far from your place, right?”

“Mm.” She yawns again. “'s not exactly brick-throwing distance, but it's down the street and around the corner. Well, two corners. Still, you'd be right in calling it not far...”

“Close enough for the explosion to keep you up last night, it would seem. You look like you just rose from the dead.”

“'s not my fault.” She slumps down into one of the couches near the television sets. “I got home late last night. Wasn't really expecting to get woken up by an explosion at four in the morning, you know? I couldn't get back to sleep after that, 'cause of the thunderstorm. The human body, “ she announces, yawning again, “was not meant to function on less than three hours of sleep a night.”

“Hmm.” says the red-haired woman, adjusting her glasses. “And the moral of the story is...?”

“No moral. No climax, complication, or even a plot for that matter.” Shiki looks around the room. “Say, where's Kokutou? He's usually in by now.”

“Breakfast. At Ahnenerbe. With Azaka, no less.” Touko Aozaki opens a draw, and takes out a packet of cigarettes with a yin-yang symbol on it. “She called about half an hour ago.”

“To brag?”

“Hah. What do you think?” Withdrawing one of the cigarettes and holding it in her mouth, she starts hunting around her desk for a lighter.

Shiki waves a hand over the back of the sofa dismissively. “I'm trying not to think.”

“A wise decision.” Touko lights the cigarette. “There was once a famous writer who said, The more I think, the less I exist.”

“Akutagawa?"

“Kierkegaard.”

“Never heard of him.”

“Disappointing, but not surprising.”

“Must be tough, being the only university-educated person in the room.” says Shiki sarcastically.

“I manage.” Idly, she pushes her hand through the rising stream of smoke from her cigarette. The smoke folds and flows around it, a chaotic, turbulent stream. “That said, do you want to hear something interesting?”

“Sure.” Shiki doesn't turn around. “It's not like I have anything better to do, anyway.”

“Fair enough.” Touko shakes some ash from her cigarette into the ashtray. It usually takes her an hour or two to establish the omnipresent cloud of cigarette smoke that follows her wherever she goes, and from the look of it she's not there yet. “I was looking through my old files last night, trying to dig up a photo I haven't seen for years – which is, in all probability, buried under a cubic kilometre of notebooks and paraphernalia downstairs – when I found this instead.” She holds up a set of about five yellow pieces of paper, stapled together at the upper left corner. There's writing on the pages – a series of numbered entries, proceeding down the page in an orderly fashion like an obsessive-compulsive's shopping list. Shiki tilts her head to get a look at it.

“What is it, some kind of exam?”

“Good guess, and you're not far off. This is part of a formalised test the Clock Tower Academy gives you after you get accepted. It's how they work out – among other things – what your elemental affinity is, if you don't already know. The written section, which is what I have here, is largely composed of scenario questions – ones like 'such and such a thing is occurring, what is your response' and so on.”

“Sounds like a glorified personality quiz.”

“It is a glorified personality quiz. It's actually kind of farcical when you think about it – the only reason there's a written section at all is because there's a certain school of thought among the higher-ups at the Academy that a person's proficiencies with Magecraft are somehow reflected in their personality, which is a load of crap except in a few rare cases. Still,” she continues, pausing to exhale a small cloud of cigarette smoke, “I was planning on giving it to Azaka when she came in today, out of curiosity more than anything else; some of these questions are actually pretty good.”

“Oh?” Shiki yawns again. “Such as?”

“Not many of the scenario ones. As far as personality quizzes go, they're all pretty vanilla. It's your birthday. Someone gives you a calfskin wallet. How do you react? And suchlike. But there's this one I'm looking at right now which asks you to give your opinion on a pretty weird thought experiment. You want to hear it?”

“...Sure, why not.”

“Imagine a box, it says. Imagine a box, and further imagine that inside the box-”

“-The cat is both dead and alive until observed. Right?”

“No, it's a different one.”

“Oh.”

“Imagine a box, and further imagine that inside the box, there is a man. Let us call him John. On one of the walls that makes up the box, there are two slots – one marked 'IN' and one marked 'OUT'. Now, let it be established that John has no comprehension of the Chinese language, written or spoken, whatsoever. Now, suppose that, outside the box, there is a person who does speak and write Chinese, but does not speak or understand English. Let us call him Li. Let us suppose that Li 'speaks' to John in Chinese by writing what he wishes to say on pieces of paper – one piece for each character – and passing them to John through the slot marked 'IN'.”

“You were right, this is a weird thought experiment.”

“Now, remember that John has absolutely no comprehension of what these characters mean. All he sees is a number of abstract 'symbols' entering the box through a slot. Let us suppose that, on another wall of the box, there is a large poster, on which is printed a complex set of rules for rearranging the symbols – 'if symbol X precedes symbol Y, then move it so that it precedes symbol Z' and so on. So, having been given a number of pieces of paper with these 'symbols' written on them, John, following the instructions on the poster, rearranges the pieces of paper and passes them through the slot marked 'OUT', where they are received by Li. Let us imagine that the complexity of the rules followed by John is such that the 'reply' received by Li is indistinguishable from the reply that would have been given if John did understand Chinese, and furthermore, that this holds true for any potential question or statement made by Li to John.”

“So, what's this question actually asking you, anyway?”

“With this in mind, your question is as follows: does John speak Chinese?”

“Well, I'd say it's pretty obvious that he doesn't.” says Shiki, standing up and leaning against a shelf to one side of the room. “Even if the result is indistinguishable, he's just shuffling symbols according to how a poster tells him to. There's no comprehension on his part. If anything, it's the poster that speaks Chinese.”

“Oh?” asks Touko, removing her glasses and making a slightly unnerving smile as she does so. I'm pretty sure she didn't always have that many teeth, thinks Shiki. “Then how do you know I can really speak Japanese, Shiki? If the result is indistinguishable, isn't it just as likely as not that there's a little Touko Aozaki inside my head who's simply 'shuffling symbols', as you called it, according to an abstract set of rules, with no real comprehension at all?”

“That's-” Shiki stops. She closes her mouth. She scratches her head. She opens her mouth again. “Okay, I'll admit that there's no way to tell, but...” She trails off. Damn her, thinks Shiki. She's gone ahead and proved that consciousness is an illusion, and I haven't even had breakfast yet. Am I in Hell?

“The original form of this thought experiment was put forward by an American philosopher called John Searle back in the 1980s. He was using it to make a point about artificial intelligence, but in this context-” She taps the yellow piece of paper. “-what it's essentially asking you is your position on something called the Problem of Other Minds, which goes back much further than Searle. The central thesis of that is whether or not it's possible to know for certain if consciousness exists outside of your own mind. Stop making that face.”

It must be one of the more obscure Buddhist hells, no doubt about it, for those with a highly specific amount of accrued negative karma – instead of being impaled on a mountain of needles or continuously burned alive, you get locked in a room with Touko Aozaki until the sun burns out...”I wasn't making a face.”

“You were. If it's any consolation, I'm going to do this to Azaka as well, once she gets here.” She laughs, and puts her glasses back on. “Still, you can't deny it's a very interesting question. Definitely a cut above the usual personality quiz bullshit, which is mostly just asking in a roundabout way whether you're a sociopath or not.”

“Huh.” Shiki walks back over to the sofa, and sits down again. “So what did you answer, when you did the test?”

“Me? I said that he did. Speak Chinese, I mean. The reasoning I used was that there's only one perspective from which John doesn't speak Chinese, and that's John's. From the perspectives of everyone who isn't John, he does. Since 'people who aren't John' outnumber 'people who are John' by a factor of several billion to one, I concluded that John spoke Chinese by popular opinion.” She puts out her cigarette. “Back then, you see, I used to write English pretty slowly, and that was something like the third-last question on the exam, so when I got to it with about five minutes left, I had to rush it. Hence, a stupid answer like that.”

“I see.” Well, I don't know if it'd be fair to call it stupid; it actually does make sense, in a twisted kind of way, thinks Shiki. “Although it seems pretty strange, to put the nature of consciousness up to what amounts to a vote. Metaphorically speaking.”

“Believe me, that answer was by no means the strangest. The Academy gets all kinds of characters. There was one guy – damn it, if I'd found that picture I'd be able to show him to you – who wrote an entire essay just for that one question, in which he made the argument that 'society' as we understand it doesn't exist. I probably still have a copy downstairs somewhere.”

“'Society'?”

“His thesis went something like this: Humans are born, raised, live, grow old, and die, all without ever leaving their own 'box'. In this instance, it's not a language puzzle – instead of Chinese characters, what comes in the 'IN' slot is the sum total of human interaction – in essence, everything everyone ever says or does to you. The 'poster' in this case contains a set of rules which we call 'culture' or 'civilisation'. Everything you learn from your parents, your friends, your teachers, et cetera – everything that goes into creating your world view, that's the 'poster'. As an example, let's take a statement like 'theft is wrong'. There's nothing implicit in the laws of nature which says that stealing things is wrong, because the laws of nature don't have anything to do with morality. Neither the concept of 'theft' nor the concept of 'wrong' are innate to humans. They have to be taught. The key difference between this idea and Searle's Chinese Room thought experiment is that this idea allows the contents of the 'poster' to be altered by material from the 'IN' slot. Every human starts off with a blank poster, and over the years, it's filled with more and more rules for taking the 'input' of human social interaction and converting it into 'output' – your own participation in that social interaction. So, if we're talking about 'theft' being 'wrong', we have to think about it in terms of the 'input', the 'output', and the 'rules'.”

“Like a computer program?”

“Similar. He was a Magus, so he probably wouldn't have drawn that comparison. Going back to the 'theft' example, let's suppose that our 'input' is a situation in which you could steal something. I don't know, suppose you see a person drop a banknote on the ground without knowing it. That's our 'input'. So, when that 'input' travels through the slot to the inside of the 'box', it gets processed according to the 'rules'. Obviously, the rule that 'theft is wrong' is going to be of key importance here. But how did that rule get there to begin with? Well, it starts with someone else. That someone else, be it your parents, or whoever, they have to make some meta-rules: rules which say, 'there are such things as rules', 'rules are to be obeyed' and 'not obeying rules results in negative consequences for me'. These meta-rules are the primary means by which the content of the 'poster' is influenced by the 'input'. So the rule 'theft is wrong' is added to the 'poster' through the meta-rules. The person inside the box accepts that 'theft is wrong' is a rule that falls under the definition of 'rule' in the meta-rules. Do you understand me so far?”

Just nod. “Essentially, yes.”

“So now we have our 'input', and the 'rule', 'theft is wrong'. But that's not the only rule influencing how we act – what the 'output' will be in this situation. You've also got the rule 'money is something to be acquired'. Now that rule is a consequence of capitalism, which is an aspect of 'civilisation'. Intellectually, we know that money can be exchanged for goods and services because we've been taught that through experience. That aspect of civilisation gives us some more rules, such as 'this piece of paper is worth less than that piece of paper' – even when those pieces of paper may be chemically identical. I'm not going to go into religion, suffice to say that that adds both new rules and new meta-rules as well. Anyway, all of these 'rules' get used to process the 'input' and eventually the 'output' pops out – let's say, for instance, that you decided to take the banknote and return it to the guy who dropped it. In this case, the rule 'theft is wrong' won out over 'money is something to be acquired'. His idea was that every human is fundamentally just 'shuffling symbols' inside the 'box' – mindlessly accepting input and manipulating it according to arbitrary, abstract rules that we only have because 'culture' or 'civilisation' imparts them to us through meta-rules. Internally, there's no such thing as society, or even morality – just rules and meta-rules, which the vast majority of people go about their lives entirely unaware of.”

“The vast majority?”

“It's not impossible for people to become aware that they exist inside a 'box'. In some cases, they even recognise the nature of rules and meta-rules. People whose process of ideation is no longer unconsciously governed by rules and meta-rules – he called those people 'sociopaths'. In his view, sociopaths are those who are aware of the arbitrary nature of the rules that govern the nature and method of their human interactions.”

“I think I understand it now. But a sociopath – even if they're aware of the rules, they're still inside the 'box', aren't they?”

“Of course. Even if they know the walls are there, they can't get out of the 'box' as long as they're human. In a very literal sense, the 'box' is what makes us human to begin with. Only gods, beasts and demons live on the outside, as he would have said.” She smirks. “Well, that was his theory, anyway. That logic doesn't take you anywhere pleasant. You'd end up having to conclude that people like Christ and Gautama Buddha were sociopaths under his definition. We used to argue about it a lot.”

“Right.” Shiki nods, stands up, and walks over to the hatstand. “Given that my brain is about to start leaking out of my ears, I think that's enough for this morning.”

“You going out?” asks Touko.

“Ahnenerbe. I have a display of sisterly affection to interrupt.” says Shiki with a grin, putting on her jacket. “One last question, though.” she continues, turning to the red-haired woman. “The guy who wrote this essay...who was he? He sounds pretty twisted.”

“Twisted? Probably only a little more than the average Magus. His name was Cornelius Alba.”


Meanwhile


Ring, ring.

-Click.-

“Weißt Sie wie spät es ist?”

“You seem to be labouring under the impression that I care what time it is at your end. Put me through to my uncle. He should still be awake. Jetzt!”

“Ja, ja, sofort...”

-Click.-

“Ist dass Sie, Cornelius?”

“It is, Uncle. We need to talk.”

“I take it from the hour of your calling that you're still in Japan. Am I correct?”

“You are, but that's hardly relevant now. We've a very serious problem on our hands.”

“We?”

“The Abbey is implicated as well, as is the parent organisation.”

“Is that right?”

“PATER is alive. I have seen it.”

“...”

“...”

“First of all, let me ask how it is that you know that name.”

“You have your brother to thank for that.”

“Tch. That Benedict...never understood the meaning of the word 'security', did he...in that case, I assume you know all about Áki Weisstein and the Codex of Rowan?”

“Only in general terms with respect to the Codex. Weisstein I'm more familiar with.”

“Then you know that what you're describing is impossible. Khrushchev had PATER eliminated back in 1961. The Soviets didn't want anything to do with it.”

“Yes, yes, Operation Kuzka's Mother and all that. But isn't it possible that he could have made another?”

“Assuming that Weisstein survived the Second World War. While it's true that we have no solid evidence regarding what happened to him, it's more likely than not that the Red Army executed him when they seized Stutthof. What makes you so sure that what you saw was PATER?”

“Its behaviour...well, even I must admit there were a number of key differences between it and what PATER was described as in my father's papers, but the basic quality is there: the appropriation and conceptual redefinition of biomass from external sources into one's own body, just as outlined in Weisstein's notes.”

“And you saw this yourself?”

“Through a familiar.”

“Hmm.”

“There's no doubt in my mind; that thing was definitely PATER, or at least derived from it.”

“If what you say is true, it needs to be eliminated before the Clock Tower catches wind of its existence. Under no circumstances can we allow London to get their hands on anything pertaining to Weisstein's implementation of the Codex of Rowan.”

“Precisely. Which is why I'm calling. As a puppet-user first and foremost, PATER will be difficult to deal with without a trump card. There's a certain item I need sent to Japan. One of my father's Mystic Codes.”

“Which one?”

“Maxwell's Daemon.”

“You don't ask for much, do you? You know how difficult it is to transport that by air. When do you need it by?”

“Preferably? Immediately. A margin of error of plus or minus three days would be acceptable, however.”

“Hah. I'll see that it gets done. What about your colleague, this Araya fellow?”

“He doesn't know anything. However, he does have a connection with PATER's host. The host was the subject of an experiment of his into the awakening of the Origin. Araya believes that the host's current condition is a result of that. It's a convenient notion which I shall have him entertain for a while longer. There should be no trouble with keeping him in the dark about this.”

“Awakening of the Origin, you say...”

“A somewhat interesting pastime, but ultimately without practical use.”

“It may be just idle speculation on the part of an old man, but I think it would definitely be interesting to see how PATER deals with a host with an awakened Origin. It'll be a shame to have to destroy it.”

“That's the kind of thinking which led Weisstein down the garden path and off the slippery slope.”

“There is a fine line between genius and insanity, Cornelius. Weisstein's mistake was in playing hopscotch on it.”

“An apt metaphor. And yet here we are cleaning up after him, sixty years later.”

“The Sea of Estray looks after its own. That having been said, have you given any thought as to how PATER came into contact with its current host?”

“I have a theory, but nothing concrete. You see, it seems that we aren't the only faction attempting to eliminate PATER.”

“Don't tell me those bloody alchemists are after it as well?”

“Fortunately not. Atlas has no presence in this part of the world, anyway. It's the American military. They sent soldiers in to secure the host, and I can tell you it didn't end well for them.”

“The Americans...? Why, but the only way that would make sense is if Weisstein defected to the US ahead of the Soviet push into Danzig, but was forced to leave PATER in Stutthof for the Soviets to recover. The United States would definitely have had the resources to support Weisstein's research, although I'm sure he would have kept them in the dark about the more occult aspects of it. It wouldn't have been hard to convince them it was just another SS biological weapons project. You don't think...?”

“To say that it's impossible would be to underestimate Weisstein. If he is still alive and working in the US, that means the PATER implementation we'll be facing has sixty years of refinement on top of the one described in his notes.”

“Hence, Maxwell's Daemon. I see where you're coming from, boy. But that still doesn't explain how PATER found its current host.”

“I can't rule out the possibility of some kind of ethically bankrupt human experimentation on the part of the Americans, especially not if Weisstein is at the helm. In truth, I don't really care how it happened. I just want to eliminate PATER, finish up working on Araya's project, then get back to Germany. Oh yes, and that reminds me, I do need to fit killing Touko Aozaki into my schedule somewhere.”

“Very well. If that is all, I will call you again once the Daemon's travel arrangements have been sorted out.”

“Excellent. Tschüss.”

“Auf Wiedersehen.”

-Click.-


-----------------------------------

Allow me to apologize for the huge amounts of talking in this update. Nevertheless, it simply wouldn't be Prototype without schemes and plots and conspiracies and plans within plans within plans, and it simply wouldn't be Kara no Kyoukai without unprovoked philosophical exposition from Touko Aozaki.

As I said earlier, there's more to BLACKLIGHT than meets the eye. This is how I'm handling the 'unusual' aspects of BLACKLIGHT that we see in the game; things like the Hammerfist power ("Where does he pull all the extra mass from? From FUCK YOU, I'M GONNA PUNCH OUT A TANK NOW, that's where."), the telepathy (Numerous references are made to an Infected "Hive Mind" in the game) and the inhuman damage resistance (virally infected or not, normal flesh cannot take a nuclear blast at point blank range and come out smiling.) If BLACKLIGHT has properties which defy common sense, clearly an explanation which defies common sense is needed. Hence, Magecraft.

You'll be hearing more about this Weisstein character later on, suffice to say that he was a Swedish Magus associated with the Sea of Estray who had an interesting approach to acquiring human test subjects for his experiments. By which I mean he collaborated with the Nazis and experimented on inmates at the Stutthof Concentration Camp near Gdansk. Benedict Alba was one of his students.

Also, I think Cornelius Alba is slightly OOC here, but I wasn't sure how else to play this. I suppose I can justify it by saying that he only behaves like he does in Paradox Spiral when he's around Touko, and that at most other times he's a lot more professional.

And yes, the "Rowan" in the Codex of Rowan is exactly who you think it is.

[nick012000]

And yes, the "Rowan" in the Codex of Rowan is exactly who you think it is.

A type of tree? *looks it up on the Type Moon Wiki* Ah, Nero Chaos.

[SeiKeo]

Yep, you got the philosophy down for sure. Nice, good to see the KnK side coming up again.

[Flere821]

Well this is good as usual Magecraft mixed with government black-op research? Oh hell yes this can't possibly end as anything less than 'complete clusterfrak' xD

By any chance, have you ever been to New Zealand? I have a friend there that used to say "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I use that line as a skipping rope =P", and I now find a similar line in this chapter.

[Blinker]

Huh. Nrvnqsr showed up a lot quicker than expected.

[warellis]

Been reading this and love it. Other than the Swedish magus, did Redlight have anything to do with Magecraft, like Blacklight? Also does Alba or anyone in the magic side know about Blackwatch? Does Blackwatch know anything about the supernatural?

[crystalwatcher]

I think all the extra mass is just compressed into his body. It'd explain a lot. Also love the fact that Shiki has finally showed up: I'd love to see Blackwatch's reaction to her abilities when the outbreak finally blows, and she's probably the only thing that can face off against Zues and live, possibly even win.

Also, he didn't take the nuke at point-blank range: he was on the outer perifery when it went off: he got caught on the edge of the actual heat of the blast, it's been said if he was any closer he'd have been erased.

[Delcer]

If all that mass is compressed within his body I fear the day he eats too much; I can imagine it'd be very annoying if concrete caves in a bit with each step, elevators and stairs not supporting him, and being unable to go past the ground floor in some buildings. Though hilarious.

I like to think that the magecraft part of Blacklight solves this issue simply because magic, no explanation needed.