The Grail Works Mission Dossier (Discussion & Ideas)

[Arbitrarity]

Somehow I am unsurprised that a VN protagonist will have no residual personality for Godafrid to wrestle or merge with. As he says, he is

the sort of entity that was meant to fill the hollow shell that a visual novel protagonist was—to wit, a player

That is a LOT of characters to be considering. I'm not surprised, considering Fate's 3 routes are actually unusually low, among VNs. If Godafrid were the Sidereal version, I would make a joke about "knowing better than to tempt Fate", but he's restricted to more traditional sorts of narrative understanding.

Switching...

Now that you mentioned it Kieran, I may have to agree with "too verbose". Alter is usually quite terse. Even if we're talking Shinjuku personality, though I haven't read that in some time. She's acting a fair bit more like regular Artoria than Alter. I think it's mostly the emoting about Ilya, etc.

Herc drawing power from the Sword of Atli when it's not in his possession is interesting. That it's reversing Madness Enhancement moreso. I'm unsure that I understand how that would work, but I guess we may be dealing with something closer to Strange/Fake Herc now? That seems weird, since Lancelot required a full Command Seal to temporarily counter Madness Enhancement (for Someone Else's Glory) and Heracles has even higher ranked Madness Enhancement. Also, you're implying that he's doing so purely by using it as a battery, which makes it more confusing.

And if he’s somehow survived that mess, what the hell do you think he’ll do to me if he found you draining it like this?!

I'm assuming this is referring to Krampus, but I'm less sure about why Herc would care, except insofar as Erik is threatening him.

This also sounds like Ruby is having trouble accessing parallel universes. I guess that makes sense if the timeline is being pruned and falling apart. The accelerating days passing is interesting. Likely something about entropy?

[RanmaBushiko]

Hmm... maybe Mysterious Heroine XX finds him again at some point, but decides to stick around and act as a surrogate mother?

That is a terrible, horrible idea, and I'm truly amused already.

*(Coughs)* So that's what a spit-take feels like - owwww . . .

That's actually more than a little disturbing to contemplate, on a few levels - though I'll give it points for creativity.

Agreed.

Somehow I am unsurprised that a VN protagonist will have no residual personality for Godafrid to wrestle or merge with. As he says, he is
That is a LOT of characters to be considering. I'm not surprised, considering Fate's 3 routes are actually unusually low, among VNs. If Godafrid were the Sidereal version, I would make a joke about "knowing better than to tempt Fate", but he's restricted to more traditional sorts of narrative understanding.

Switching...

Now that you mentioned it Kieran, I may have to agree with "too verbose". Alter is usually quite terse. Even if we're talking Shinjuku personality, though I haven't read that in some time. She's acting a fair bit more like regular Artoria than Alter. I think it's mostly the emoting about Ilya, etc.

Herc drawing power from the Sword of Atli when it's not in his possession is interesting. That it's reversing Madness Enhancement moreso. I'm unsure that I understand how that would work, but I guess we may be dealing with something closer to Strange/Fake Herc now? That seems weird, since Lancelot required a full Command Seal to temporarily counter Madness Enhancement (for Someone Else's Glory) and Heracles has even higher ranked Madness Enhancement. Also, you're implying that he's doing so purely by using it as a battery, which makes it more confusing.

I'm assuming this is referring to Krampus, but I'm less sure about why Herc would care, except insofar as Erik is threatening him.

This also sounds like Ruby is having trouble accessing parallel universes. I guess that makes sense if the timeline is being pruned and falling apart. The accelerating days passing is interesting. Likely something about entropy?

Yeah, it's an interesting idea to try a visual novel. At the same time, it's still a visual novel, and considering the writing hell that Fate Apocrypha has turned into, for some segments, as well as the fact that we're long past the year mark? I'll fully admit that the Shuffle! story could turn into something closer to either this, or something like one of the Trinity books... (Hopefully not the last ones, because whoo, those were long for Kieran to write.)

She IS a little too verbose right now, but it's been some time since the Singularity's been fixed. Add in the Sword of Atli fucking with things...

At the same time, it's her realizing that she killed Irisviel's daughter and Shirou's sister that really shows her emotions here. Even through all those layers of rage, and hate, that the Grail gave her? She still cared about Irisviel quite a bit in Fate/Zero.

She became a tyrant, yes... but at the same time, she still has the same goals, overall motives, etc. She just thinks that doing it by being a tyrant, and conquering rather than chivalry, as the best option.

Additionally, Erik needs information, so she's going to offer some to Erik.

Herakles is.... basically remaking himself from the ground up by tapping into the flows of power the Sword of Atli is releasing, in order to keep the crumbling Singularity F stable. And, over time, he's figured out how to use it to bolster his awareness enough to speak again, etc.

That doesn't give him the same mindset as before, however. Keep very much in mind, that Legend means he's tapping more into what he was like as a God, not as a Demigod. Now add in him having enough rage, anger and hate that he's scarier than ever, and he's using it to not only reverse the Madness Enhancement, by using it to enhance his strength, but that Illya's Orders to go as Mad as possible are gone...

And we have a somewhat rational Herakles to deal with.

Yes, Erik's bringing it up in the hopes that he can make Herakles decide to think things over. Can you tell it didn't work?

Ruby is having problems with parallel universes for more than one reason. The biggest reason is what's going on with the Singularity itself falling apart, with time going rather wonky inside it. Another good one is the issues with the prana battery at the base of Ruby suddenly not producing power at all.

[Kieran]

Oops... sorry about that...

Oh, don't be - I got quite the laugh out of it once the shock cleared. There I was, expecting Shuffle!-related suggestions, and your first response was that . . .

(Seriously, even aside from the fact that she had a crush on him as an adult, it's kind of like expecting Taiga to raise Shirou completely by herself . . . And if there's anyone less ready for being a responsible adult in 21st-century Japan than Taiga or my SI, it'd be XX.)

So, by all means, do keep suggesting.

Somehow I am unsurprised that a VN protagonist will have no residual personality for Godafrid to wrestle or merge with. As he says, he is

Exactly - one reason I thought it fit, really.

That is a LOT of characters to be considering. I'm not surprised, considering Fate's 3 routes are actually unusually low, among VNs.

Yeah - five primaries (at least three of whom have expanded routes in further games, possibly four), plus six or seven more I've heard of, in the two remade/expanded versions of the game. So if there are crises in their lives which could constitute a threat, he doesn't know about it. Even knowing what he does presents too many possibilities . . .

And Shuffle! is, all things considered, a fairly peaceful setting; it's just that when things are wrong, they're really dangerously wrong . . .

If Godafrid were the Sidereal version, I would make a joke about "knowing better than to tempt Fate", but he's restricted to more traditional sorts of narrative understanding.

Still a potential possibility, but yes. And he's presently cut off from Ilya's foresight, so he's having to guess.

That is a terrible, horrible idea, and I'm truly amused already.

Me, too, damn it.

Yeah, it's an interesting idea to try a visual novel. At the same time, it's still a visual novel, and considering the writing hell that Fate Apocrypha has turned into, for some segments, as well as the fact that we're long past the year mark? I'll fully admit that the Shuffle! story could turn into something closer to either this, or something like one of the Trinity books... (Hopefully not the last ones, because whoo, those were long for Kieran to write.)

Yeah - while I am perfectly willing to let a decade pass in-story, I'd rather not spend another one doing the actual writing . . .

[Xamusel]

Okay, point made, Kieran... oops. I'll come up with a better Shuffle! idea for this. How about... Kaede summons Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, by accident in an attempt to make right what she did earlier to Rin (without knowing Frid's in his body)? I'm sure that Medea would be a better mother figure for the two of them combined than XX by far​.

[Kieran]

Okay, point made, Kieran... oops. I'll come up with a better Shuffle! idea for this. How about... Kaede summons Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, by accident in an attempt to make right what she did earlier to Rin (without knowing Frid's in his body)? I'm sure that Medea would be a better mother figure for the two of them combined than XX by far​.

Certainly an interesting idea, even if I'm not quite sure how to arrange her summoning (yet); still, Medea would easily pass for a Devil . . . As to her being a role model, well - she did KILL the last children in her care, and I'd be a little afraid that Kaede taking her as an example would lead to the anime's yandere version making an appearance.

Still, it's something to consider - and as I go through the VN (having finally found a "no commentary" playthrough), I can see two or three other options for TYPE-MOON characters who would fit in well . . .

[Xamusel]

Uh, Kieran, I thought that Medea had a child who lasted way longer than his elder siblings? At least, according to Nasu, anyway.

[Kieran]

Uh, Kieran, I thought that Medea had a child who lasted way longer than his elder siblings? At least, according to Nasu, anyway.

If it's according to Nasu, I've never heard it (which doesn't mean you're wrong; I'm hardly infallible or all-knowing when it comes to TYPE-MOON lore, after all). According to myth, however, no.



. . . And I find myself torn; as I said earlier, in addition to your suggestion, I've found two other TYPE-MOON characters who could be slotted in relatively easily - though whether as analogues or as themselves varies. Which one, on the other hand . . .

Ah - an easy way to get opinions, and still maintain the surprise: one is from Fate, and the other Tsukihime. Which way would you prefer I go? I admit, I haven't done much with the latter, thus far . . .

[Xamusel]

Tsukihime, probably, unless said character is Ciel. I might have a plan for her later, if I'm going to get into this, anyway.

[Kieran]

Tsukihime, probably, unless said character is Ciel. I might have a plan for her later, if I'm going to get into this, anyway.

Not Ciel, no - though this snippet contains a hint . . .















Koyo Town, Japan
June 18, 1996









Divinely-empowered and preternaturally capable though Exalts might be, they were still ultimately humans. And, like any humans, they required training and practice to improve themselves.

In the world of Exalted, the increase of any natural attribute (such as Strength, Charisma, or Intelligence) or learned ability (such as Sailing, Martial Arts, or Awareness) had a fixed training time measured in weeks or months. It also frequently required the instruction of a tutor for the latter in order to be done in the allotted span; self-education was possible, but took twice as long. “Training time” was defined as a period of eight hours per day, six days a week; it could be less than that, but the overall time required increased correspondingly. And training more did nothing to actually diminish that (though it could be suspended for up to a month without penalty, if necessary).

So, needless to say, “Rin Tsuchimi” was not making a great deal of progress on his self-improvement efforts, even after a month. In fact, he was making less progress than he had in the Servant Universe—and when dealing with hostile Heroic Spirits caused less of a hindrance than living a quiet suburban life, something was clearly very wrong . . .

Still, he kept at it. Partially because while, as a Lunar Exalt, he had automatic access to all Charms (since they were based on inborn attributes rather than learned skills), he was still limited by what he was actually capable of. A Lunar with the physique of a champion bodybuilder or debater could enhance themselves far more than an antisocial beanpole, and certain Charms had prerequisites to their use; and since he was currently in the body of a nine-year-old, his options were very limited. Oh, he could no doubt surprise the hell out of anyone who expected to be dealing with just a nine-year-old—rather than one who could suddenly lift five times his own body weight, with proportional reflexes and endurance—but still, he could be much more.

And someday, he might need to be . . .

So far as he was aware, Rin Tsuchimi’s life, outside of a few incidents, wasn’t dangerous—Kaede was the most immediate possible source for that, and after that very public attack, she was getting therapy (how she’d avoided it the first time, he had no idea). Neither was his world—at least, no more than a mundane 21st-century Earth, anyway. There were no Dead Apostles, hidden magi, Titans, or other existential threats that constituted a constant danger to life, limb, liberty and/or sanity; nothing that really required an Exalt’s power and attention. And if he chose to, say, not meet Sia and Nerine, and come to their (and their circle’s) notice, he could quite easily live out a nice, quiet vacation of a mortal lifetime, avoiding the plot entirely.

Except—even without his intervention (whether you meant the original Rin or the Exalt), Asa Shigure’s life would still be in deadly danger. Primula would still be under threat of eventual self-destruction, nearly a decade from now—perhaps even sooner, with no emotional attachments left at all—and she could potentially destroy at least one world. And the “Great Collapse,” which was forty years beyond that in the canon timeline, might occur with nothing to stop it at all . . .

Some vacation.

So he trained, to enable himself to be able to do all that he could; and also to cover something he might need to do, which otherwise would be inexplicable. For example, jogging—it increased his endurance, his athleticism, let him build up a mental map of “Koyo Town,” and gave him an excuse to scout out the places he expected Sia and Nerine to pop up . . .

Eventually.

Allegedly, anyways.

Damn it, would it have killed the writer to give actual dates beyond “that day eight years ago . . .?”

“Eight years ago” was now, and the year was half-over as it was! Had he already met them? Had he missed them, recovering in the hospital, or by training in something rather than going out . . .?

Certainly, Rin wasn’t having a lot of luck with any of his other ventures in preparing for things that dealt with the other people involved. Yes, there was information on “the opening,” and alchemy—but not much of it was available to a civilian nine-year-old. No, Asa Shigure was not someone that he or Kaede apparently knew (yet)—she must’ve popped up in junior high, because he refused to believe that Kaede learned enough about cooking in one year of high school to support a household. And while, yes, Kaede did know the truth, and was getting therapy, it was early days yet as to where that would end up—he worried that she’d just be her canon self, when all was said and done.

And any other strategies or actions he could or might be able to enact to fix things before problems happened were all contingent on meeting those two girls . . .

He glanced at the sky, and thought, I’m willing to at least humour the plot, damn it—how about a little good faith gesture?!

The truck that came barreling around the corner at the moment was not an encouraging sign . . .








After that near-miss, he decided a treat was in order, and paused at a bakery for treats—the Japanese, to his dismay, didn’t quite have chocolate as he thought of it down, and the adrenaline needed a bit more time to fade than he needed to get his breath back, but it wasn’t all bad. They did strawberry pastries quite nicely, he discovered, and with a truly ludicrous amount of cream. As such, he was some twenty-five minutes later than usual, getting to the train station—

But just in time to see a little red-haired girl step onto the platform. A red-haired girl with big, golden-brown eyes, and—yup, half-elf-style pointed ears.

Princess Lisianthus of the Gods (“Sia” to her friends), age nine, was looking around with a wide-eyed expression—and the slowly-dawning horror of a child who was beginning to realise that they were lost . . .

If I’d come at my usual time, I’d have been leaving when she arrived . . . I suppose I should say “thank you,” but did you have to use a goddamned TRUCK?!








July 19, 1996








After Sia, dealing with Nerine (or more accurately, Lycoris, Nerine’s clone) was a bit easier, and required no near-death experiences on his part—though he certainly hadn’t expected to encounter her the next day.

Still, tracking her down was much simpler: with her singing voice, he heard her long before he saw her. And the park she was in gave them a ready excuse to play, and thus spend time together—but doing so, knowing that she would die before he ever saw her again, on the other hand . . .?

Scratch that—it wasn’t “easier” at all. It was much, much worse.

He knew the plotline: Nerine would develop an incurable disease, and Lycoris would volunteer to return that portion of Nerine’s life force that had been used to develop her, to strengthen her—along with all the enhanced magical power that had been engineered into her, as part of the same project that had engineered Primula. With it, Nerine would survive; but she would also inherit Lycoris’ powers, talents, and memories . . . Including her love for a young boy she met, in the human world.

Nerine would agonise over that for the rest of her life, resolving to live “as Lycoris” in penance. And Primula would mourn the loss of the only family she’d ever had; the only other one in any world like her. But as tragic as it was, it was the only way that either of them would ever live a full life; Nerine’s condition was terminal, and Lycoris’ cloning was imperfect. Neither would survive long without the other’s sacrifice.

It wasn’t fair, or right, and he had no idea how to stop it . . . But he’d still try. And if he failed—

. . . If he failed, then at least he would give Lycoris today.








“Goodbye, Rin-kun!” the blue-haired girl called, amethyst eyes sparkling as she clutched the stuffed cat she would one day pass on to her “little sister”; a last-minute remembrance he was relieved to have recalled.

“Goodbye, hime-chan,” he said, trying to smile genuinely—he didn’t want to make her feel sad, after all.

Insofar as his smile went, her sudden blush at his choice of nicknames helped immensely—but what helped more was the letter he’d managed to slip into her dress’s pocket, much as he had with Sia—the one he’d written weeks ago, and brought with him on every run, for just this moment; the one with his contact information.

After all, just because canon Rin had forgotten about the girls entirely for eight years, why should he? Between the Internet and the connection of the three worlds, having an inter-dimensional pen pal or two shouldn’t be too difficult. Hopefully, it would make Nerine’s eventual issues easier to deal with—either because he’d hear about them and have a solution by then, or because he could try and counsel her through it. And it would make it much simpler, when he did eventually encounter Asa, to pass the necessary details onto her and Sia’s father, and get her the medical help she needed before things got critical.

This was a sad goodbye, but not necessarily a tragic one . . .








May 18, 1997








“In a response aimed to prevent a potential catastrophe,” the newscaster announced, “the joint decision was reached by all governing bodies across the three worlds to permanently close the gates—”

“SON OF A BITCH!”

[Arbitrarity]

He has prevented the Great Collapse, nearly 50 years early? Annnd has probably trapped himself. And has also made all the "not necessarily a tragic goodbye" and "can keep in contact" points moot. Mostly the last, I suspect. Watch as the Gate reopens in 7 years, because the world does NOT LIKE IT WHEN YOU MEDDLE.

[Xamusel]

...what? You said there was a hint, but I must've missed it, Kieran.

[Kieran]

He has prevented the Great Collapse, nearly 50 years early? Annnd has probably trapped himself. And has also made all the "not necessarily a tragic goodbye" and "can keep in contact" points moot. Mostly the last, I suspect. Watch as the Gate reopens in 7 years, because the world does NOT LIKE IT WHEN YOU MEDDLE.

It's worse, actually - according to the VN, due to an imbalance of magical energies, they needed to close the Gates the year after Rin met the girls - and they only reopened six months before the game's start.

. . . While it certainly explains the layout of the Shuffle! world (i.e., why magitek isn't a common thing, after 10 years), it wasn't something I was expecting - much less HIM.

...what? You said there was a hint, but I must've missed it, Kieran.

Re-read it again - or wait, and hopefully I'll be able advance the timeline enough to show you.

[Xamusel]

I'll wait for it.

[Arbitrarity]

It's worse, actually - according to the VN, due to an imbalance of magical energies, they needed to close the Gates the year after Rin met the girls - and they only reopened six months before the game's start.

. . . While it certainly explains the layout of the Shuffle! world (i.e., why magitek isn't a common thing, after 10 years), it wasn't something I was expecting - much less HIM.

Oh, that's actually in the original timeline as well? At least that keeps things consistent. I was expecting him to have been smote for tempting fate already, and I can definitely second the surprise factor.

Re-read it again - or wait, and hopefully I'll be able advance the timeline enough to show you.

I have an idea...

because he refused to believe that Kaede learned enough about cooking in one year of high school to support a household

The true mom figure.

[Kieran]

I'll wait for it.

OK.

Oh, that's actually in the original timeline as well? At least that keeps things consistent.

Yes - which is handy in some ways, and sincerely aggravating in others. I have no idea what I'd do about it yet, or how, but Lycoris' situation genuinely hurts; I'd have liked to be able to try something.

However, short of his slipping through the Gate before they close it (which would cause all kinds of butterflies, and basically mean abandoning the plot of the game entirely), or one of them actually managing to stumble through a Door to the Works as a client, I'm kind of stuck for ideas.

. . . Theoretically, I suppose, he could develop a Charm or spell for crossing realms (assuming one doesn't already exist, of course). the Lunars guarded the borders of Creation from the threat of the Wyld, and other places, after all; being able to slip back and forth across those borders makes sense, and I know the Garou (who theoretically descend from them) could do that, even to the point of having specific Gifts for the task. And that's not counting the sorceries that deal with spirits, demons, etc.

But it would take time to accomplish, and since Lycoris' death, like many of the past details (so far), isn't given a specific date, the odds of being in time . . .

. . . On the other hand, Exalt; telling reality where to shove it is kind of what they do.

I was expecting him to have been smote for tempting fate already, and I can definitely second the surprise factor.

One of those details that is great world-building, that the anime never went into; I'm almost afraid to find out what it has to say about magic and alchemy, down the line . . .

Thus far, at least, magic appears to be your standard application in anime: glowing energy that does stuff (blows up, typically - Nerine trashes a gym and school grounds, and the Kings are noted to have destroyed two cities the last time they fought). Whatever rules or principles it abides by haven't been elaborated on, yet - the only thing I know it can't do is revive the dead; which, given elements of both Nerine and Sia's backstories, is actually a bit suspect.

Nothing for it but to keep watching and see, I suppose.

I have an idea...

The true mom figure.

Which has me curious at to who you mean . . .

[Arbitrarity]

Which has me curious at to who you mean . . .

Well, there are approximately 4-5 characters well-known for cooking in Fate. The most obvious is Shirou or Archer ("Chaldea's Mom"). Sakura is also a strong candidate, since we're fairly sure that Shirou isn't going to be allowed to go to Shuffle!-land, and she's also quite maternal. Beni-enma and Tama-cat are both more Grand Order characters than Grail Works characters, and are thus mostly disqualified.

If you actually took the Tsukihime recommendation and picked one of those, I think that implies one of the maids, which makes the "Mom figure" entirely inaccurate. I think Kohaku is better known for cooking normally, and she's also an excellent option for mischief.

[Kieran]

Well, there are approximately 4-5 characters well-known for cooking in Fate. The most obvious is Shirou or Archer ("Chaldea's Mom"). Sakura is also a strong candidate, since we're fairly sure that Shirou isn't going to be allowed to go to Shuffle!-land, and she's also quite maternal.

. . . You know, I was going to make a joke about not using Sakura, despite the fact that she fits the setting's naming scheme, because they already have one - but taking a closer look at her . . . Allowing for certain environmental differences, does she not bear some striking similarities to Sakura Tohsaka . . .?

If you actually took the Tsukihime recommendation and picked one of those, I think that implies one of the maids, which makes the "Mom figure" entirely inaccurate. I think Kohaku is better known for cooking normally, and she's also an excellent option for mischief.

They have one of those, too - albeit not for another century or so.


. . . No, in truth, I had (and have) two entirely different characters in mind; but now, I think, I'm going to have ponder the matter of Sakura . . . (Crap - did they translate Really? Really! as well . . .?)

[RanmaBushiko]

Chapter 5: Ruins and Berserkers and “That Void in the Center is a WHAT?!” Oh my!


It’s a couple minutes before I glance up. “Arturia, can you scout, and see where Herakles might be at?”

She nods, even as she eats a couple more gems from the cache. I can see some of her injuries slowly patching up, but at a slow rate, as she leaves the room to do so.

After a moment, I glance at Ruby. “How are you doing?”

“The gems gave me a bit of a charge to the main battery, temporarily, but with how little I’m getting, it’s slow. And those gems haven’t been touched since Rin’s father set that cache up, so they’re a little… underpowered after all this time. It’s only that this place was a Singularity for a while, that let them recharge.” Ruby admits, shrugging its wings.

“Fair. My prototype Cosmoreactor’s pretty much the only damned thing giving me prana right now. Not sure if I can put out more power with it, either, no offense.” I admit, looking over Ruby and thinking.

“Anything you’d like to ask?” Ruby asks, almost hesitantly. “And could I interest you in becoming a Magical Girl?”

“Not sure yet, for the first question. As for the second. NO.” I snap back.

“Fine, fine. I’ll be sure to wear you down eventually, considering how you’re dressed and all!” Ruby wiggles her top piece, much like eyebrows.

“Seriously. No. Not interested in being a magical girl.” I snap back again. “And if you want repairs, you’ll understand that this will be the status quo. Me. Male. Period. Am I understood?!” I snap back at Ruby, harder, before I wince and take deep breaths. “Fuck. I’m out of shape, for this… false body I’m stuck in.”

“Would it really be that ba-” “I know where your mute button is, and how to use it, Kaleidostick Ruby. ENOUGH.” Ruby stills at my words, and bobs it’s top piece like it’s nodding. “Got it. Sorry.” Ruby quiets down, as I think and focus.

“Open your systems up so I can check what’s going on, Ruby.” I order, folding my arms as Ruby does so. After she’s done, it’s a simple matter of looking inside the dimensionally unpacked space Ruby has within.

The sight leaves me mute for a long while, as I stare.

“Ruby? Your main battery is missing. Did Zelretch make a different kind for you?” I ask, slowly.

“Eh? What do you mean, missing?” Ruby asks, if muffled.

“I mean, I’ve looked at the prototypes for you and Sapphire. There’s no main battery system in here. Where the hell did it go?!” I shoot back.

“I don’t know! I’m using the systems each mark 2 has, based on your Mark 1 upgrades!” Ruby yelps.

“Fucking… damn it all. I’ll use some of the gems to try and replace the main batteries. Keep in mind, this is just something to make up for the lack of batteries, the stuff in here is nowhere near as good as what you normally use…” I trail off, thinking. “Can you do a scan for the main power cells in the city?”

“Not while I’m opened up like this, I’m not.” Ruby shoots back at me.

“Tch… got it. Give me time to replace them with some gems, and hopefully the jury rig will last until we’re out of this situation, then. Also, if you spot any usable diamonds, tell me. I can probably use one or more of those for a jury rigged laser soon...” I sigh, and work.


It takes a while, before I manage to get a cluster of gems set up that won’t explode if used, one that feels like it should work well. Maybe 10 minutes?

“Feels like 10 minutes has passed, but it’s hard to tell. Any luck on figuring out why you’re only getting 2% power flow from the Kaleidoscope, Ruby?” I ask, as I double check the findings.

“To be perfectly honest, no. Normally my sibling wands are in constant communication with me, as a side effect of the Kaleidoscope, but it’s more gibberish, than anything else.” It’s reply is odd.

“What are you getting, precisely? And, before I forget, close back up, please. I think we’re as done as we’re going to get done.” I admit, while pulling myself up.

“Honestly? It’s like everything’s slowed down…” Ruby admits, dimensionally compacting itself into the staff form, before I pick up Ruby.

“You mentioned something about gravity fluctuations as well, earlier. If I get you a good view of the void at the middle of the place, can you tell me what it is?” I ask, as I go to the ground floor. Arturia Alter’s nowhere in sight, so she still must be scouting. I can’t see anyone in the street, either.

For a moment, I pause, then I move up to the second floor, and check the windows carefully through the curtains. Staying low, keeping watch.

Herakles is far down the street, heading towards the direction of the house Shirou lived in. But he’s not facing the shed we were in.

My eyes can faintly see him grinning to his right.

Wait. To his right?

I focus, feeling the drain of prana from me.

It’s… aww, shit.

“Saber! He’s tracking you somehow! I just finished working on the Kaleidostick, moved up to scout, and he’s smirking in your general direction!”

“Tch. So that’s how he’s been finding me so damned much! DAMN IT ALL!” Her mental voice all but boils with rage and wrath, leaving me shivering for a moment, as I think.

“Calm down, damn it. He can’t seem to find me, yet. Give me a minute to come up with a plan, okay? Start heading east, towards the bridge, while I figure things out.” I send, as I focus.

“Tch. Very well, then. Come up with something soon, and hurry.” At her words, I nod, moving closer to the window.

In the distance, I can see the void at the center of the ruined singularity. I can see some of the fires dying down around the city, as well.

“Ruby. Can you scan for the location of the sun, as well as what that void is? Also, can you pull up a map, and tell me where a motorcycle shop might be at?” I ask, trying to keep out of Berserker’s line of sight.

“Analyzing… Confirmed. Sun is…” Ruby trails off, for a moment. “Sun is… what? That… can’t be. What the heck am I...?!”

“Ruby…? What’s wrong?” I ask, still eyeballing Herakles in the distance, as he turns towards the shed, still walking slowly.

“Erik. The Sun is constantly spinning around 5 times a second, through what remains of the singularity’s sky. Time is rapidly going faster, and if it wasn’t for the smoke. I think it’s from that void in the middle. Give me more time to analyze, okay?”

I nod. “While you’re doing that, can you give me a map of where a bike shop would be at, as well as where Saber can go for a motorcycle, to try and outrun the bastard?”

“Confirmed… motorcycles… there should be several shops, east of the bridge.” I nod, and focus.

“Saber. East of the bridge, there should be multiple Motorcycle shops. Look for ones that have fuel, and can go past 100 kph. At least one or two should be un-burned, or have missed the flames.”

“Understood. Shall I proceed via motorcycle, then?” Her voice is questioning, but sounds tired.

“Keep him busy, but try to scout out the ruins of the city for now. I’m going to try for the local school, since you said that most of it was undamaged. Ruby’s trying to figure out what’s going on with the singularity as well...”

“Understood. Be safe, Erik.”

“You too.”

After that, I head down, and start on a brisk pace towards the location of where the school is at.

It takes 10 minutes, but I’m close to the school, when I hear a loud roar from the northern part of the Singularity, slowly fading in the distance.

“He’s heading your way, Saber. Be careful. I’m going to try and break into the school, see if I can’t make something to hurt him, or at least defend myself, before heading for the mansion to get Shirou Emiya’s body.”

“Understood.” Her voice is tense as it reaches me. That changes a few moments later, however. “Motorcycle found, and it looks to be a good one. Looks to have been a racing one, just recently repaired.”

“Good. Scout the area, make him run around in circles, and wear him out a bit. I’ll be busy on my end, but tell me if anything happens.”

“Ruby, do you have the ability to get maps from your sibling Kaleidosticks, even if you can’t get messages right now?” I ask, as I boot my way through a window, ignoring how exhausted my legs feel, and the pain from doing that.

“Yup! It’s slow, but I’ve got that capability. What do you need?”

“A map to where the local CNC machine might be at, as well as any radioactive samples of minerals.”

“This is Japan. Why would they have that sort of stuff here?” Ruby asks, quizzically.

“Perhaps because it’s useful to show what radioactive materials look like, so you can avoid them? Or maybe lessons on how dangerous it is, so kids know how lethal they can be? Considering the sheer number of nuclear reactors japan has...” I trail off, and sigh softly.

“...Oh. My bad. Yes, I’ll scan for some right away while getting a map. Sorry again.”

I nod, walking while Ruby works, searching for a section that might be labeled, or even a map of the school.

“Ah… looks like the download’s slowed down to a crawl. Kinda like those old slow modems that hook into a phone, you know? Sorry. It’s going to take a minute or two. Mind if we chat while waiting?” Ruby sounds apologetic, if nothing else.

“Yeah, no problem. Sorry if I’m stressed, it’s just been a rough while since I woke up.” I admit, looking from room to room.

“Pardon me for asking, but… why are you dressed like that? You look good, I mean. But...” Ruby trails off.

“I was naked when Saber Alter found me in the remains of the Singularity. I think the Sword of Atli meant to summon me for repairs, but considering I’m not a Norse God anymore, something must have borked. She couldn’t wake me up, and was trying to make me into a demi-servant somehow… though I’ll be damned if I know how. Dressing me the part was part of her plan, I suppose.” I admit, a bit wryly.

“Ah. Sorry for harassing you then. And… workshop classes, is… down the hall, first floor, furthest door on the left. Should be tools and equipment in there.” Ruby states, half apologetically.

“Gotcha. By the way, Ruby? Do you identify as female? Or just as a staff?” I ask, a bit bemusedly.

“Female, of course! Why, I should always be as beautiful as my wielder, you know?” A chuckle erupts from my throat at her words, before I nod. “Fair enough.”

We make quick time to the room, before I break down some locked cupboards and get to work.

“What are you planning, anyways?” Ruby asks, as I’m knee-deep in my work, using the Prototype Cosmoreactor to power the CNC milling machine. Thankfully that still works, even here...

“My personal laser rifle uses a diamond laser, to ensure the laser’s strong enough to cut through trees, people, and equipment, like a hot knife through butter. Usually, that works well, with my Prototype Cosmoreactor ensuring I have enough juice for it. However, considering we’ve got Herakles drawing power from the Sword of Atli…” I trail off as I work, thinking.

“You’re worried it’s not strong enough, huh.” I nod to her reply, and glance at the work. “It’s putting out a lot less juice than I’m used to, and the stuff almost keeps shutting off from lack of power.”

“Hmm… well, I suppose you could get ME to power it, maybe?” I glance at Ruby.

“You mind powering a rifle like this, then?” I ask, wryly.

“Technically, I’m supposed to be able to turn prana into electricity. Technically. At the same time, I’m not sure how much I’d generate.” At Ruby’s words, I nod and continue my work.

“Any sign of radioactive materials in the building, Ruby?” I ask, as I finish, a few minutes later. “And where’s your electricity output spot, by the way?”

“Bottom of my handle, the pommel screws off, leaving an outlet. I don’t know what it’s rated for, though. And… nothing. No radioactive materials within 50 feet. I could scan further, but I think Berserker might notice, with reality as fragile as it is, here.” Ruby admits, before I nod.

“Any idea about that void, then?”

“I have a nasty one, I’ll admit. Could you get me to the roof so I can get a good scan of it?” Ruby asks, as I finish putting some metal plating on over the rifle, as well as plenty of stuff to ensure it won’t fall apart if it gets hit, or melt everything from the inside out from heat.

“Soon as I’m done, Ruby.” I admit.

It takes about 5 more minutes to finish up. 5 more stress filled minutes.

Finally, I raise it up, and test the laser with the hastily thrown together battery pack.

“Those batteries don’t have many shots, Erik.” I glance at Ruby, then nod to acknowledge her. “Same style plug as for your pommel, though, Ruby. Means after it’s done, I can switch to you, I think.”

“Just keep in mind they won’t recharge…” I nod at Ruby’s words, and head towards the roof.

“Erik? There’s still no sign of him. Are you sure you saw him heading my way?” Saber’s words leave me wincing.

“Ruby, be quiet. Berserker hasn’t found Saber yet…” I can see Ruby nod to my words.

“Yeah. I did. If he’s not after you, though… where the hell is he?”

Soon enough, I reach the roof, while cursing under my breath about the stairs. Ruby peeks over my shoulder, looking at the void in the center of the Singularity, while I start looking around, scouting over the walls.

I can see a huge chunk of a building slowly sailing into the void, and some sort of black light in the very center grow, through the laser rifle’s homemade scope. Then I start moving towards the edge of the building, looking for Berserker in the distance.

“Oh... crap...” Ruby whispers.


I glance at Ruby. “What?”

“That’s turning into a black hole, I think. Erik. That’s reading as a black hole! Checking for why it’s acting like this...”

I take a step back, turning to look at Ruby properly, from where she's hanging off my laser rifle's new shoulder strap, and open my mouth to ask if she’s sure.

It’s all that saves my life, as an arrow punches through the ground aimed for where my head was seconds before.

“Why, if it isn’t a lost little lamb, alone? Having brought me right to an archery range! Quite nice of you, giving me a bow and quite a few arrows as ammunition to deal with you!” Herakles’ voice reaches me from down below, glee in his voice as he readies another arrow and tries to shoot me through the building once more.

“OH SHIT, HE’S OVER HERE INSTEAD?!” I send to Arturia as I dodge once more.


“I’M COMING, ERIK!”

[Arbitrarity]

I disagree with Ruby swearing, because it feels very out-of-character.

I'm guessing Herc is tracking Saber via the Sword, since he's drawing power from it. He also has fairly amazing senses, so no questions about why he can find Erik. At least if Herc is going after Erik, Arturia might be able to get Avalon, but I guess she has to actually protect him first. Good planning to go after the more vulnerable target.

Black holes always feel like a weird addition if you're not in outer space, because their behaviour never makes sense when they're visible in fiction at planetary scales (even at solar/galactic scales it's usually wrong, but planetary scales it's just impossible). I would MUCH rather blame the First/Fifth Magic, the Pruning Theoretical Phenomenon, or some other Grand Order Singularity related reason than "there's an actual black hole here". At least it can not be an actual black hole and just be something that looks like it that's actually something else?

Define a Schwarzschild radius for your black hole, plug it into a calculator, find its mass, then figure out how far away it is, and look at the acceleration. A 9mm radius black hole has approximately Earth-mass, and will pull someone 100km away towards it at 400m/s^2. Also, the "time slowing" effect of the black hole is for outside observers, and doesn't help the person actually being sucked in. The person being sucked in will see everything further away seem to speed up, as you're doing, but the gravity required for even a 5-1 speedup puts you basically inside the event horizon at that point (you get 5-1 at a distance of under 2x the event horizon radius, and when the event horizon is 9mm, you're touching the damn thing, and are spaghetti already). 432000-1 is obviously even closer.

</angry physics rant noises>

There are a couple of places where you switch speakers in the same line with a sentence separation, which makes it difficult to track who's speaking, except by context.

“You’re worried it’s not strong enough, huh.” I nod, and glance at the work. “It’s putting out a lot less juice than I’m used to, and the stuff almost keeps shutting off from lack of power.”

“Hmm… well, I suppose you could get ME to power it, maybe?” I glance at Ruby.

“Those batteries don’t have many shots, Erik.” I glance at Ruby, then nod. “Same style plug as for your pommel, though, Ruby. Means after it’s done, I can switch to you, I think.”

“Just keep in mind they won’t recharge…” I nod at Ruby’s words, and head towards the roof.

[RanmaBushiko]

I disagree with Ruby swearing, because it feels very out-of-character.

I'm guessing Herc is tracking Saber via the Sword, since he's drawing power from it. He also has fairly amazing senses, so no questions about why he can find Erik. At least if Herc is going after Erik, Arturia might be able to get Avalon, but I guess she has to actually protect him first. Good planning to go after the more vulnerable target.

Black holes always feel like a weird addition if you're not in outer space, because their behaviour never makes sense when they're visible in fiction at planetary scales (even at solar/galactic scales it's usually wrong, but planetary scales it's just impossible). I would MUCH rather blame the First/Fifth Magic, the Pruning Theoretical Phenomenon, or some other Grand Order Singularity related reason than "there's an actual black hole here". At least it can not be an actual black hole and just be something that looks like it that's actually something else?

Define a Schwarzschild radius for your black hole, plug it into a calculator, find its mass, then figure out how far away it is, and look at the acceleration. A 9mm radius black hole has approximately Earth-mass, and will pull someone 100km away towards it at 400m/s^2. Also, the "time slowing" effect of the black hole is for outside observers, and doesn't help the person actually being sucked in. The person being sucked in will see everything further away seem to speed up, as you're doing, but the gravity required for even a 5-1 speedup puts you basically inside the event horizon at that point (you get 5-1 at a distance of under 2x the event horizon radius, and when the event horizon is 9mm, you're touching the damn thing, and are spaghetti already). 432000-1 is obviously even closer.

</angry physics rant noises>

There are a couple of places where you switch speakers in the same line with a sentence separation, which makes it difficult to track who's speaking, except by context.

Hmm... yeah, sorry. I'll fix it later when I'm not half asleep from a couple days worth of nearly no sleep. (Insert massive swearing here.) One. Single hour last night. Ugh.

As for Ruby, I'll fix that, and a couple other things, when I'm not working on fixing my fridge and freezer.

Herakles is definitely going the smart route here. The Legend he's been absorbing has been upping his stats around the board, and he's been taking hefty advantage of that here, as well as using it to fix some of his more... debilitating issues.

As for black holes, it's a void in space sucking reality into it. It might not necessarily be one YET, but it's well on it's way to acting like one, if far smaller in scope, thus Ruby calling it one. Or it could easily be that it's the form that the corrections to history takes, and Legend's keeping it from going active. What with Singularities collapsing the way they do in game, yet you're able to visit them later...

In her defense, if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, are you going to call it a duck until you know if it's something posing as a duck? The answer is "Yes. Yes you are.". The math does make sense, though. I'm mostly using it as "That's what Ruby is understanding of the situation. She's never been in a singularity mid-collapse though, so she could have it completely wrong and not realize it, considering they're in the middle of SOMETHING wonky going on, however."

Nice angry physics rant noises, though!

On my end, I've got a fridge with no cold air in it, a freezer with lots of ice in it, and me swearing as well.


But after that refrigerator is fixed, and the chapter's fixed, I'll put up the next chapter snippet. Sound good? Yes, it's done, and I've got a bit into the next chapter after that, as well. Erik also has a couple new tricks up his sleeve after Anarchy, though I'm not going to reveal where he gets those, yet.

I've been trying to balance out Herakles as both the crazy strong guy he is in Fate (and if you don't believe me? Watch both fights between him and Saber in UBW as well as Saber Alter vs Berserker out of Heaven's Feel.) with how he is sane, and kinda rational here. For a given value of "rational" at least...

I've also been trying to write this, without tapping into the choices coming up for the readers, coming up in my next chapter of Fate Anarchy. Because rather than develop upgrades for Erik, that would make him stupidly strong, I'm leaving it up to the readers for Erik and Mordred alike. Which would directly influence abilities that could be used in this story here, if Erik were stronger.