So, everyone, the questions involving the next interlude part got more important, it seems. Kieran's hands are having problems again. His chapter is mostly DONE, but he can't write right now.
Chapter 26: Of Construction and Conversations
The Wolfen, Galley
4:30 AM
July 3rd, 2004
MHXX hums, as she approaches the Galley. Normally Servants don't HAVE to sleep, but it's fun. Her, however? She likes to enjoy it just as much as she learned from her Sensei to enjoy it. With waking up nice and early to ensure the tormenter who'd woken HER up early every day for years, gets the same exact treatment.
Oh yes. The sheer number of times she'd woken up to an ice cube-filled bucket of water, because her projects weren't yet done? Too many to count. Almost the entire four years of training, in fact. So her revenge would be glorious. Still... better to make sure.
"Ah, excuse me, Mr. Legion of Coal unit?"
"Yes Miss Mysterious Heroine XX?"
She sighs softly, grumbling. "Is the Wolfen's Galley water tight, or is there any power issues in there to be concerned of? My Teacher needs a wakeup call, just like the ones he gave me for years."
The Legion of Coal unit pauses, going over its databanks. "It should be fine to pour water inside. Do you require some?"
Inside her helmet, MHXX grins evilly, as she nods. "Indeed. A bucket full of ice cubes, then water, if possible, my good Unit!"
"Right away, ma'am! Do you mind if the Scylla records this?"
"Oh, I don't mind at ALL..."
It takes only a couple seconds, for her to get her bucket. Mechanical efficiency at its best, after all. And, sneaking in, it's easy to get up to Erik.
"GOOD MORNING, SENSEI!"
*Splash*
"GOD FUCKING DAMN IT, THAT'S COLD!"
"Oh, I thought I'd get revenge on what you did to me for four years straight, at this hour, Sensei!" MHXX'S voice is gleeful, even through the armor's ability to disguise her voice.
Erik looks down, staring, then slowly looks up at her. "Mother. Fucker."
"I've got a tazer with your name on it if you need help waking up more, though!" Her voice is even MORE smug, now, as she sits across from her favorite teacher in the future.
"You are an evil, evil goddamned bitch. I like you already. Would I have taken you as an apprentice in the future, by any chance?" Erik, looking curious, studies her.
"Nope!" The smugness in her voice grows.
"Adopted you?" He tilts his head, as he asks.
"Not yet!" And grows yet more.
"Why the hell not?" He's frowning, now.
"Too many irons in the fire to do it then?" MHXX sounds amused.
"How the hell is there too many irons in the fire?!"
"Well, aside from you being on the Mark 3 Wolfen when I take your classes, due to 'dimensional fuckery', and this thing being too expensive to keep around... you have to deal with 'a bunch of colonists' that Zelretch happily gave 'shit to', classes to teach, and 'Science' to do." MHXX leans back, her arms folded behind her head.
"Huh. I've considered it, though?" Erik looks contemplative, now.
"Oh, definitely. But you always put it off a bit whenever you thought about it. Add in that I'm better off for the construction aspects, more than the science or engineering development aspects..."
Erik nods, thinking, then settles back as he works over the information he has in his mind.
"I still have that tazer if you need help in waking up, Sensei."
"You're an evil bitch, and I'm liking it more and more. You want an adoption, we'll work on it here in the past, while we have the time."
"I'll think about it." MHXX smiles, then tilts her head. "Off to build, I suppose?"
"Indeed! Any tips on what to do?" Erik calmly leads her off, while looking at her walking beside him.
"Eh. I don't know the exact specifics of Artorium or Alternium's forging methods, since you developed it after you eventually switch to the Wolfen Mark 2... but you did hint that it involved divine blood in the forging somehow. Aside from that... to build a Cosmoreactor, you need two gallons of blood, divine metal for about fourteen inches worth, minimum, and the same symbols as on mine. I'll pull my armor off, so you can see what it looks like, and get a good idea of it."
"Why the armor, anyways?" Erik glances over, studying her armor intently for a moment.
"It... helps counter the dimensional shifts, and what it can do to people and their abilities. Much like the armor plating or coating on your Wolfen does. As a police force dead set on helping counter Servants that invade other universes, and aren't part of a Holy Grail War, we get this as a standard armor design that you create in the future sometime."
"And how's the dimensional stuff work?" He narrows his eyes, looking it over for any familiar runes whatsoever. Maybe they're on the inside? He isn't sure.
"Oh! That's kind of simple, honestly. You developed a computer program based on something you saw, sometime in the future. Some sort of realm, where your divinity kept you from going insane?" She sounds curious behind her armor now.
"Yeah. I remember that. It... wasn't the best of all places to see. Everything was... odd. I saw universes die, and be created, all at once, and if I wasn't a God, it would have broken my mind, I think. It was less... realm, and more the... Absence of Realms."
"Yeah, that would do it, I suppose. Well, irregardless, the program, combined with the Cosmoreactor, leads to a technology we called Rayshifting. It allows dimensional, or universal transfer without losing your abilities. Without the armor, though, you tend to have them... mingle with the universe you're in, over time. It looks like the Wolfen is holding up well for that, but I'd suggest you work on the armor coating for any further projects."
A long sigh, as Erik reaches the door, before he turns towards her. "Honestly? It's out of my budget right now. We used every scrap of the material we used on the original coating, from the first Universe we were in. I haven't really seen, or been able to replicate more of it, with how much I've been busy, since. Ah, here we are."
He opens the door to his new workshop, courtesy of Wayland Smith, then sits, pulling up a screen and glancing over details. "Let's see now... I need to deal with the reactor's issues... build that new reactor with you... ensure one of the trucks are ready for Mash, Mordred, and whoever else will be going with them..."
MHXX nods, settling back, even as she removes her armor. Erik, in turn, raises an eyebrow as he glances her direction. "Huh. Need anything to wear on top of that stuff? I'm pretty sure a bikini is fucking cold in here right now."
"No, it's too damned hot to wear anything else, with how warm that armor gets. Thank you though, Sensei." Her voice is still modulated, but she looks relaxed now.
"Voice Modulation on purpose?"
"Yup. And to mess with Godafrid, honestly. Though he could have let me KNOW he knew me before I ever MET him." She sounds irritated, even as the Voice Modulation stops. Erik can't exactly blame her. Then, she focuses.
Slowly, as she pulls upwards, an orb slowly pulls up out of her chest, manifesting and forming an orb with a big, thin ring wrapped around it. Rather than most of the sides touching, instead a thin side touches.
"Hmm... so that orb there's your Cosmoreactor?"
"Yup, my pride and joy! In the future, you use only a bit of your blood as a catalyst to make these work... well. Yours, or your wife's, or Fenris' blood, at least. We have to hunt down a creature of Legend, and kill it, then use most of its blood for the rest. In my case, you helped me kill a Dragon, and I mixed in a bit of Tamamo's blood into it, as she directed me too. It helped me learn how to be more stealthy as a result. Add in what you helped me find, later, and I've gotten stupidly good at it. Tamamo compared me to something she did when younger. Something about being able to sneak around, while holding a bright light, and no one being able to notice?" She sounds proud, as she shows it off.
"Interesting... actually, that's fascinating! Give me a bit to study this, please."
"Not a problem! No falling asleep, though, Sensei!" She sounds amused.
"Huh. Interesting... I'm guessing this rune here interacts with the computer? The one I'm pointing at?"
"Yup! That's what makes Rayshifting easy and simple to do."
"Fascinating. Let me get some pictures real quick..."
"Just make sure to not let anyone else have access to them, Sensei."
"Got it. I'll put it in the stuff marked for paranoia."
"I thought you would. I don't want to change history TOO much, after all."
"I get that. God of Paranoia, remember? Amongst other things, anyways. Let's see now... huh. That's... damned simple to do the carving for both sides. And the insides?"
"Ah, do you have Auto-CAD?"
"Yeah, lemme boot up a computer... wait. I haven't put in computers in here, yet. Lemme grab you a tablet with a drawing function."
"Thank you, Sensei! Um... could you promise me something, though, while we're talking? If things get changed because of this, or I tell you anything I shouldn't have, could you cover for me? I don't exactly have seniority, or enough clout to cover for if things get changed, and I really don't want to lose my job..." She looks down, quietly, peeking through her bangs at Erik, as he pauses, then looks back at her.
"I'll do my damned best to see you keep your job with no repercussions. I promise. And if somehow, you do have repercussions, I'll work to help you. No matter what." Erik looks at her, point blank. "You're sticking your neck out for me. Trust me when I say that I value that more than I'll admit, especially with the clusterfuck that things have been. It's been..."
Erik sighs, long and hard, while she accepts a computer tablet, before easily opening the proper programs. "It's been a clusterfuck. The Titans fusing into one giant thing... everything else happening the way it has... everything just keeps getting worse. Did you know that their fusion offered me Ymir's role?"
MHXX pauses, then slowly looks up at him. "No. I didn't. Why would they..."
Erik sighs, softly, and rubs his forehead. "I don't know for sure, except it involved the Frost Purview... and one of them mentioning that I was somehow 'Of his Blood, and having a small fragment of his power'. But tonight's the first night where I actually got a lot of rest, from nightmares involving that, and having accepted... only to become a monster who couldn't love my wife, or anyone I knew."
"Sensei. I'm sorry." She moves, giving Erik a hug, then just breathes out. "I'm sorry to hear that. I've been so excited to see you in the past, and see your Wolfen, the way you described it to us in class... I didn't even think of how confusing it must be for you. Sensei. You're a good person. A good man. You might be somewhat paranoid, but that's understandable, from the stories you've given us in class. But trust me. You're ok. You didn't accept, and you won't stop loving your wife."
Silence reigns for a long moment, as MHXX hugs the man she calls Sensei. Eventually, though, he quietly whispers "Thank you. That means a lot right now." while patting her head.
"It's no problem, Sensei. I get why you're so stressed. More than that, I can see why you always loved this ship."
"Can you tell me why I lose it, perhaps?" He looks at her, studying her.
"Loosely, operating costs, as far as I understand it. That and the cloaking system being a pain in your rear to use. Let's face it. Cloaking the entire ship has to be EXPENSIVE for you, each time." She sighs, stepping back and rubbing her forehead. "Not to mention the strain it has to be on YOU, rebuilding parts so often. It's a prototype, a test-bed for technology. I get that perfectly. But at the same time, if you look at the strain, and the drain on yourself, it's just not feasible in the long run. Not without massive overhauls, or replacing more of the nuclear reactors with the fusion reactors that you seem to have barely finished designing..."
Erik sighs, softly. "I'll admit, before I came here... I was tempted to replace it with a smaller design. After I came here, though, with how much WEAKER I am... I don't know if I can afford to do that sort of thing. Not anymore. My crafting skills, every skill I have has weakened..."
"So you're effectively stuck, without backup, or any knowledge of the wider area, or things that might come that could fuck you over, or help. It makes me want to swear a lot, for you, to be honest. But I'm too nice a girl to swear." She smiles, then sighs, thinking. "Still... this MIGHT help you out. I'm not sure exactly how much, but it should?"
Erik nods, thinking. "Any ideas about WHY my future self didn't adopt you, by the way?"
She pauses, rubbing her finger against her lips, eyes scrunched up in thought. "Hmm. Maybe... no. That couldn't be it. Perhaps... no, no. Oh, that's it! I suspect he wanted me to see how your original abilities worked, and compare them to the abilities your future self has in my future period of time."
Erik nods, then looks closer at the runes, before breathing out. "That makes sense. Now for the metal, and..."
"And I'll handle the work on auto-CAD! Should work fine, Sensei!" She interrupts with a smile, right as she collects the tablet from the Legion of Coal unit bringing one in.
6:30 AM
Two hours of work result in their actions, as Erik teams up with MHXX, both working to produce something potent. Something new. Something wonderful, and useful, all in one.
Even if it isn't her fabled "Artorium" or "Alterium" in his eyes, after several attempts at producing a decent steel, he eventually manages to get good results with a steel forged with his own ichor, from his Meteorite Iron, then cooled with his frost abilities.
"Um... Sensei...?" Erik pauses, then glances at her staring. "Yeah?"
"You just made Artorium. Somehow." Erik pauses, looking down, then stares.
"That's a GOOD thing, right?"
"Um... technically? Except it seems rather low quality. I'd suggest tripling the metal for it. And experimenting with using something other than cooling it like you did. Maybe cold blood or that Ichor stuff you have?"
Erik thinks, then nods, before sighing and getting back to work.
"Also, Sensei? Please make me swear a Geas to never reveal the method, after you're done? I don't want you to kill me for it, with how much in demand that metal is."
Erik sighs, and nods. "I get it. Thank you."
7:00 AM
It takes another 30 minutes, of them working, but they eventually finish it.
"Now all you have to do is pump pure ichor into here, and then we're done, Sensei!"
"How concentrated does it need to be?"
"Ah... as much as you can."
Erik sighs, then nods, before pouring his blood into a pan, then into a machine he's developed for concentrating ichor in his spare time in the room.
It takes seconds for the small microwave sized machine to do it's work, extracting blood from him, and filtering it. Copper based blood in one side, and ichor, black reflecting rainbow color in the other. For a moment, confusion flickers in Erik's eyes, as a sheen of gold appears on it, before it flickers back to normal.
Thankfully for him, even though it taps into a major artery, he can regenerate the blood being lost faster than the vein can deplete.
Soon enough, the ichor is poured into the device. "Now what?"
"Now, push your power into it, like I'm doing with mine. A steady stream into the runes."
"I'll try, I suppose..." Erik focuses, trying what she's telling him to do, and pouring power directly into the runes carved within this thing he's crafted. And slowly, it works. It begins glowing an icy blue that leaves the room within feeling colder, even as engravings of clockwork and hydraulics form along the surface of the machine.
"You did it, Sensei! Now, try to visualize it flowing into you, and you'll be able to use it as a reactor for your machines without issue!"
Erik pauses, looking over at her, before shrugging, and trying.
*Thunk*
*Thunk, Thunk*
"It's not working." Erik turns his head, from where he was looking down, towards her. "I'm STRONGER while holding it, but it's not going in me like you said it should."
"Eh? That's... odd. Maybe you developed a spell later, and it's not on there now?" MHXX tilts her head, studying it, before sighing.
"Probably. Well, now to make this into a necklace or something..."
A long pause, as they both hear incoming footsteps, before MHXX desperately dons her armor as they approach. Only to stare in wide eyed surprise at Mordred bursting into the room.
"HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS AWESOME AND EPIC! I WANT ONE SO DAMNED MUCH NOW, IT'S PURE AWESOMENESS IN A SWORD! PLEASE FINISH IT SOON!"
Mordred's shouting leaves Erik grinning even as MHXX finishes pulling her armor back on behind Mordred. "Right? I've gotta say I love how the project came out!"
Mordred grins, widely. "Those swordfights were all awesome! I had to run here after Return of the Jedi, though, to tell you how much I love those swords!"
Erik laughs, before grinning. "May as well show you the modifications, then, am I right?!"
Mordred just grins and nods, repeatedly, her expression like an eager puppy, only for her eyes to go wide at the sight of the Laserblade turned Lightsaber.
"This little thing originally was the hilt of a laser blade, expertly adjusted to have the five lasers carve through things in a row. With how I upgraded it, though... the lasers are mixed in a blade of pure lightning mixed with lasers."
"Lightning?! Hmm... maybe I could use my own Magical lightning to power it!"
Erik laughs, then muses. "Actually, you might be able to make a lightning sword if you work on it long enough..."
"Really?! That would be wonderful, too!"
"I'm just getting started on some upgrades to it. Want to watch?"
"Oh, HELL yes. I wouldn't miss this for anything!" Mordred's smile simply grows bigger as she settles back to watch.
Erik laughs, then nods, pulling out parts of the casing. "Right now, the lightsaber only has five functional uses before shutting down. I didn't even think of power saving equipment. But with the heat to electricity stuff I'm putting in, this should give extra uses. Maybe just one swing, but more likely 10 extra uses."
"Neat!" Mordred happily sits, watching as Erik works, while MHXX watches in the background. Then MHXX speaks up, thinking.
"So, Mordred."
"Yeah? I remember you vaguely from Chaldea a bit... Mysterious Heroine XX, right?"
"I'd wondered if you would. Do you have any memories of similar Grail Wars?"
"Eh. Kinda? Most of it's flashes rather than anything concrete, but I remember something with 13 servants before... actually, now that I think of it... I think my Master was my master in that one, too. Though it's completely vague, more impressions than anything else. I just mostly remember him and I being great friends, bonding really well, and..."
"And? Unless you don't want to talk about it..."
"I realized something, towards the end. Right before I died. Something beautiful and important. But I just can't easily remember i-"
She pauses, frowning.
"...No. I vaguely remember a realization involving my father. He... that I wanted to..." Mordred frowns, worse, obviously trying to remember.
"Fuck. I don't remember. Damn it."
Erik muses, and glances towards her. "Ask your master to use a command spell so you have to remember that other war, then?"
Mordred smiles widely. "I'll do just that! And anything else from that other summoning!"
Erik nods, then pulls his goggles back down over his eyes, resuming his work.
7:30 AM
Erik stops, smiling, then offers the lightsaber to Mordred. "Turn it on while it's still charging."
She smiles widely, looking over the finished blade, before turning it on. The crackle of the red blade with a white corona answers her, as she stares in awe at the machine. Slowly, though, her look of awe changes to a look of glee, with a huge smile on her face.
"If I didn't have a Master, I'd want you as mine. You know that, right?" Mordred smiles over at Erik.
"I'd be happy to have you, if something ever happens to my own Servant." Erik smiles back, then pats her shoulder.
"Now what? This thing is awesome!"
"Now? We test it for how many uses it can do before it stops working. I got some Legion of Coal units to get us some sheet metal, while Mysterious Heroine XX ran off to get us some snacks."
"Sweet. Unplug, once it's done charging, then test?"
"Exactly!" Erik smiles, settling back.
"Hey, what do those goggles do?" Mordred pauses, studying them.
"Eh, while I wear them, I can see weaknesses in the objects in front of me. It comes from a Death Goddess' mirror, the one thing she never really broke, of all her things. Everything else rotted on her."
"Whoa, that's... actually awesome! Anything else it can do?"
"It lets me see weaknesses in people, as well. Lets me see where to hit, for better damage, and I can see where to cut using my laser to do more damage to a person with it. Catch is, I get 8 minutes a day with it, right now, before I get a massive headache. So though it's GREAT for a fight..."
"It leaves you weakened if you use it too long. Gotcha. That sounds rough, right there." Mordred frowns, folding her arms.
"Little worse than weakened. More "Exhausted, with a huge migraine that feels like it's going to rip my skull in two. Any longer than that, right now, and it feels like my eyeballs might POP while wearing it. Used to be that I had twelve minutes, but now it's only eight... probably has to do with how weak I am in this universe compared to my old one."
Mordred nods, thinking. "Makes sense, to be honest... you took a dive in power, so too does your ability to cope with certain things."
The moment between them is interrupted, by three beeps coming from the prototype lightsaber. Erik smiles, and unplugs it. "Fully charged, and ready for the test when the plates arrive."
Mordred smiles, then simply points behind Erik towards the door. "And they just did! Gonna test it?!"
Erik smiles, then offers it to her. "You do it, since you'll be working with it for a while. Just take good care of it for when you're out and about."
She laughs, then studies the sheets of metal brought in. "Just gotta swing right through that stuff, right?"
"As expected of a Prince, to know what they're supposed to do."
Erik's reply makes Mordred pause, and blink at him for a long moment. Then she smiles, and nods. "Thank you for respecting my position. It means a lot."
"Eh, you wanted to be King for some reason, and I do get that. Nearly became one for the Mars colony, before things went wrong, on my end. At least you didn't have MY father as yours. Guy was a bastard."
"Thank you for respecting me for that, instead of hating me. And... would you be willing to give tips, or lessons?"
Erik smiles, and nods, before stepping back.
Snap, Crackle, HISS
With one swing, she stares, as the lightning mixed with laser sword carves through the steel plates, one after another, like a hot knife through butter.
"Ten swings, with eleven being hit or miss, I think. That last swing barely had any power to it before it faded." Erik studies things, carefully, then grins. "How's it feel to swing it?"
"It's wonderful! Really lightweight compared to a sword, so I suspect people will have to be trained in coping with it, though." Mordred studies it, while musing. "It's nowhere near as balanced as a sword is, so unless you make the emitter super heavy, it's not really much like a sword in terms of balance. That's going to throw people off with it."
MHXX sticks her head in the door, then looks at them both. "Sensei? Your wife said we need to eat breakfast with everyone else. Shall we all go get some tasty food?"
After a long moment, Erik sighs, then starts cleaning himself up. Mordred simply smiles and nods.
"Sounds good to me! Any ideas for what we should do?"
"I have a couple ideas. Think you'd like to go after a rogue Servant on Black's side of things?" Erik idly pulls his lightsaber off the table, then moves towards the kitchen with them, smiling.
"Can it be in one of those trucks?!" Mordred grins.
"Oh hell yes. You get one of the trucks. How's 3 inch thick steel plating for the truck sound to you as a defense?"
"Oh, that sounds like a beautiful thing to drive!" Mordred's smiling an evil, evil grin.
"Plus! Just imagine the look on their Assassin's face when they discover what being run over by a truck is like!" At the thought of an Assassin staring at a truck, right before being run over, Mordred cackles, laughing long and hard.
"Sensei! Isn't that a little evil?!"
"Oh come on! Don't be a stick in the mud, Mysterious Heroine XX! It'll be fun!"
"Hmph! Well, if things go wrong, don't forget to let me know, so I can tell you that I was right!"
The Wolfen, Galley
7:45 AM
Erik smiles, as he walks into the galley, stretching out as his wife smiles at him. "Have fun tinkering, dear?"
Erik nods, takes a plate full of an omelette, as well as some bacon, with miso soup on the side. "Thank you, dear. I did in fact have fun tinkering! Even figured out a new metal forging technique. Should help us in the near future. After this, I'm going to look over what the hell happened with some of the reactors, and mill out replacements."
Tamamo smiles and nods at her husband, then continues passing out food to everyone that comes in.
After a long meal, full of tasty, hearty food, Erik glances over. "Mind if I have everyone's attention?"
A chorus of "Yes" results.
"Loosely, I was wondering if Mash, Mordred, Olga, and Amaterasu would go out searching for Assassin of Black. Would that be okay with everyone?"
Kairi tilts his head, thinking, before slowly nodding. "That's fine with me, but can I ask why?"
Erik muses, before explaining. "I'm going to be busy with working on getting the reactors back online, so we can get the ship mobile again. That's going to be a nightmare of parts and issues, so it's going to take me at LEAST a day. Add in everything that's likely on the verge of breaking down, and I'll want to build extra spare parts, just to be safe. Furthermore, I have to work on the cloning technology, that you and Miss Aozaki wish to have some working technology for. Working on that alone with you will be at least a day's worth of work."
Erik pauses, then sips on some water, before continuing. "Add in that Ruler should eventually wake up, and we'll want her to have some hearty food, as well as get answers from her on what the hell Assassin of Red was throwing around, and we've got a more complex situation than you think. I've also promised to upgrade some equipment for both Olga, and Miss Tohsaka here. Even though I've done some work for Olga, that doesn't mean I've done it for Miss Tohsaka yet. So it's going to take at least a day and a half before I'm fully done."
Kairi studies Erik, thinking, before nodding slowly. "I get that. Sounds like a better plan than anything else I can come up with. Anything else you'll be up to?"
Erik sighs, softly. "Well, I've got a meeting around Noon with Miss Tohsaka. I should really get in contact with my Mars base, the Wolf Home, since it's still orbiting Mars, and we need to figure out if Zelretch is keeping his promise to keep them fed, and having enough air. Add in figuring out what exactly happened to the nuclear reactors to leave them going offline so fast... my ship is like the damned Millenium Falcon. Always needs repairs, even if I love it."
Mordred laughs, before speaking up. "Yeah, I can see it. It's old, needs a slap sometimes to fully work, but when it does work, it works WELL. At least you don't have an asteroid scene to worry about, right?"
Erik laughs. "We did, actually! Not too bad of one, considering it was a meteor shower, but it was a pain in my ass to realign several of the weapons at the time."
"No space worms, I hope!" Mordred grins now, as Tamamo giggles softly in the background.
"No, thankfully for me and my hubby, there were no space worms in the meteor shower, thankfully! Still, your Master and Miss Aozaki are looking confused. If you'd like, while my hubby works on the ship, I can turn the Star Wars series on for you to watch, along with your daughter, Mr. Sisigou."
"Watch? Like... ah, a movie?" He sounds confused, though slowly less so.
"Yes, it's a famous American film series."
"Huh. I think my daughter would like that, even if she's in bad shape... sounds fine. And you Mordred? Will you be joining us?"
"Nah, sorry Master. I watched the first 6 movies last night. They've got movies from 2025!"
"Huh. Really? That much of a time difference for you and us, then?" Kairi Sisigou raises an eyebrow, then rubs his chin.
"Yeah. I suspect Zelretch had a hand in things, but it could have been the Heart of Winter, at the end." Erik sighs, then stretches as he finishes off the last of his food. "Well, time for me to get to work. I'll be able to talk at Noon, Miss Tohsaka, for when you're ready to chat. Meet me at the bridge, then?"
She nods at Erik, while eating. "Thank you for the meal, Miss Ulricson! It's quite tasty, I think you should share tips with Archer here... Archer, get over here! You should trade cooking tips with the Goddess, you'll never know when you'll get another chance!"
The Wolfen, Main Bridge
11:55 AM
Erik smiles, settling back into his chair, now that he's alone. Everyone else leaving him, either to cook for lunch, or to do other things, leaves him with the perfect opportunity for this.
"Scylla? Put me through to Shirou Kotomine, please."
"No problem, Boss. Any tips if he hangs up?"
"Make the drones ring like his phone does, anyways, all around him."
"Hah! That should freak him the fuck out!"
"I know, right?"
"Connecting now, Boss!"
Erik smiles, listening, as the phone rings.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, Shirou Kotomine. I thought we'd call and have a chat."
"You found my number, I see."
"Indeed."
"Wishing to surrender, perhaps?"
A loud laugh from Erik. "No, not particularly. I called to warn you. We're supposed to technically be working together, as the Red Faction, after all."
"Warn me of what?"
Erik sighs, softly. "That's the tricky part. Me, my wife, my ship, and the other passengers wound up here with our Mars colony, from another universe, where the ancient foes of the Gods, the Titans, merged into an eldritch abomination that literally ate all life on Earth, and was hunting for an artifact I'd saved. Thing is, there was no real guidance for the dimensional jump."
"An eldritch... abomination. You know, if I hadn't seen for myself that you were a Demi-god rather than a Servant, I wouldn't believe you, right now, right?"
"Fair enough. Thing is, the artifact, known as the Heart of Winter left my shift mid-jump, and went straight for Earth, then wound up in Caster of Black's hands."
"So that's what that little war was about. Do go on, then."
"Well, see, the idiot decided he was going to stuff it into his Noble Phantasm, and according to Frost Titan prophecy, the damned thing can summon a 2 or three mile wide chunk of ice to cause Fimbulwinter."
"Oh. That's..."
"I know, right? And the damned thing seems to have safety systems built into it, that guided it straight to Caster of Black. More than that, the entirety of Yggdmillenia can't FIND it in their own castle anymore."
"Why call me, then?"
"Your Servant smelled of poison, and divinity. One I'm unfamiliar with, from the pantheons back home. If she can sense Divinity, or Divine weapons, she might have a chance of destroying it if I don't."
"So you're effectively warning me in case you fail to deal with it?"
"Eh. Pretty much, to be honest. Neither of us want a planet buster involved in this stuff, you know what I mean? I don't know what YOU want specifically out of this Grail War, but it's probably just as important to you as the wishes are to the other Masters and Servants I've met so far."
"Fair enough, I suppose. Anything else to know about the situation, then, oh Norse Demigod?"
"Call me Erik. And... a guy I met, on the road, named Zelretch? Perhaps you've heard of him?"
"I have, yes. And Erik, hmm? Good to know."
"Well, he warned me that Caster of Black planned on activating his Noble Phantasm between the third and fifth of this month. Either today, up to two days from now."
"And yet he's dead."
"That doesn't mean it's not still in a partially complete Noble Phantasm, keeping the damned room hidden."
"Touche. If I get close, I'll make sure she tries to find it, and does her best to destroy it."
"Glad to hear it, then. Sure I can't convince you to work with me, though?"
"...Would you be willing to sacrifice your wish to save humanity?"
"To be fair, I'm more worried about not having to nuke Trifas, to get rid of the Heart of Winter."
"Nuke? I'm afraid I'm not quite familiar with that term..."
"Ever heard of an Atomic Bomb?"
"You have one."
"It's really, REALLY nice to be a one-man nuclear state."
"Suddenly, I find myself more terrified about the concept of facing you. Still, perhaps we could come to some form of deal later. Would you perhaps give me a chance of contact?"
"I'll send you a cell phone, before you leave for whatever you're up to."
"How DID you find me, by the way?"
"Invisible flying drones with microphones, and some with video cameras."
"Suddenly I'm worried that my Assassin's dove network isn't nearly as good as your spy network."
"Likely not."
"This... Heart of Winter, was it? Are you sure you're not overblowing the situation with it?"
"I met the leader of the Frost Giants, personally. More than once, even. He put 5% of his people's income into searching for the damned thing, and admitted as much to myself. Admittedly, I learned it after I'd claimed the damned thing, and hid it. But you don't put millions of dollars per year into searching for something without it being powerful. I built a damned sword around the thing, to use it as a power source. The damned thing was like an endlessly full battery that wouldn't run dry. One that could make blizzards on demand! While INACTIVE, no less."
"Ah. That's... somewhat terrifying."
"Why do you think I'm freaking out so much, and willing to deploy war machines? Even if Caster of Black is Dead, I don't know if his Noble Phantasm was destroyed with him, since he had to construct the damned thing."
"Which means it might still be somewhat functional, and capable of attacking."
"Which is why I'm warning you. It acted like a giant battery. Considering that after several millenia, it hasn't lost any real amounts of power?"
"If I wasn't a man of the cloth, I'd be cursing right now."
Erik pauses, at a knock at the door, before breathing out. "Right. I forgot I scheduled that. Mind if I call you later, so we can figure things out between us more?"
"That would be... appreciated, I suppose. I'd rather not have you nuke ME, after all."
"Fair enough. Good day, then."
Roll Notes:
6+5+5+7+7+5+8+6+8+22+29
Smithing, Ice, Pykrete, Engineering, Cybernetics, Legend, Relics, Divine, then Intelligence, specifically. Followed up by a 22 for epic intelligence, and a 29 for the goggles
57D10E8 => 15 | 10s: 9, ones: 4 = 20. 20 + 22 + 29 = 71 successes
DV of 45 passed! Secret second DV of 65 passed!
Prototype Artorium (Poor) gained!
I'm going to be honest here. I did not think this roll was going to be passed this way. But sometimes, a God just working in his forge can come across neat stuff by accident, too!
That, and Erik's goggles are bullshit that actually DO something neat.
Concept to Execution roll for the ichor filtration machine...
Intelligence + Science + Legend. I've been forgetting to add LEGEND to all my rolls?! Ugh.
Okay, that's going to be a pain to alter my math later... eh. I'll take one for the team and just ignore it for the other rolls for now.
Engineering, Electricity... add a malus for the electricity in the concept to execution...
8 + 9 + 5 + 8 + 22
30 + 22
DV of... 13. Huh. Yeah, that's simple.
30D10E8 => 9 | 10s: 4, ones: 4 = 9. 9 + 22 = 31
Easy pass.
Starting Legend:
17/64
Legend use:
5 legend for Concept to Execution
3 legend to produce the blood for the forging of low grade Artorium.
3 legend to counter the aggravated damage of nearly bleeding out to fuel the reactor.
Current Legend:
6/64
Edit: Glanced over the chapter, and had to do the formatting all over again. Argh.
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Originally Posted by Xamusel
