Fate/ NEW ERA

ten

The thin streak of a harsh cold white light swiped through the dark room, reflecting off of the pristine metal surfaces. The smell of chemicals of all sorts lingered in the room, most specifically the smell of ammonium that flooded the room as if it were pooling around the line of metal tables in the center of the room. Every scalpel, saw, and needle were placed away in organized clear-door cabinets on the right side of the room, and opposite to that was a work station lined with various scientific machines.

The two men clothed in dark clothes scanned the room. They were both nearly the same height, but the one with long blue hair was slightly taller than the other man, who had unruly auburn locks and stockier build. They were extremely silent as they walked past the lab equipment to the back of the room where the metal refrigirated storage units were, piled on one other like boxes, their shoes clacking against the pristine white floor tiles.

"It's very clean in here," the man with the blue hair to his waist sounded surprised. "Are they always this clean nowadays?"

"For the most part, when no one is being examined," the other man replied with his rough voice. The sound of clothing ruffling was heard as he pulled out a box of cigarettes from the jacket's inside pocket. The man then pulled out a lighter from his outer pocket and within a second lit a cigarette.

"Is it really appropriate to smoke in here, master?" The taller man with the softer voice questioned as he lifted a brow.

The smoking man shrugged in reply. "Well, you come to learn that the dead don't mind."

The other frowned as he shook his head in disappointment. "You should try and show a little more respect, master."

"This one, Caster." The smoking man pointed at one of the cadaver storage doors, completely ignoring his servant's statement.

Caster sighed before he opened the latch and a foul stench seeped into the room. He pulled out the sliding table and before them laid a corpse, no ordinary looking corpse, however. A woman with only skin and bones laid before them, as if everything within her had been sucked dry. He frowned in pity and disgust. "How can anyone be capable of something like this?" Caster looked away.

The cigarette glowed as the man took a puff. He breathed out a cloud of smoke. "They're no better than animals."

"Worse than animals," Caster corrected. "I've never seen an animal capable of doing... this ."

"The coroner said this was the sixth body found like this. All women." The master leaned over the corpse and analyzed her, taking note of her sunken skin and horrified expression imprinted on her face, the last thing she saw must have been horribly frightening that she was frozen in such a way.

"Women ? Sick bastard," Caster spat. "All for what? To fuel a servant? How weak must this master be?"

"Or rather how powerful must the servant be that it requires blood as mana daily?" The man took another drag of his cigarette once he pulled away from the woman.

"Do you think they'll prove difficult to fight?" Caster asked.

His master nodded as he tapped his cigarette against his finger and rid it of ash. "Why else would they need this much mana?"

"We need to find the source, they must be the first to go," Caster sighed. "We can't possibly have them going around doing as they please."

"Once the war officially starts, we must get rid of these scum." The master spoke as he turned and took one of the metal tables with wheels.

Caster smirked. "With pleasure, master."

The master searched the cabinets until he'd found what he was looking for: a body bag. He tossed it over to his servant.