fate/first order derivative

Part I.5

> restart: iteration 15, day 1, early night

FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck! What the actual fuck!

> breathe dude

Bluh. Right. Breathe. Okay. I'm okay. Just breathe.

Gah. That sucked. It's strange, though. I don't seem to actually remember the pain when I restart after dying, you know? It's like I can remember thinking something hurts, but not the actual physical sensation. Maybe I'm just blocking it out or repressing it? Either way, good job, brain. You keep that up.

> so what was that about

I have no idea! The guy just likes showing up and stabbing people, I guess? Who does that?!

> what about the address

What about the -- FUCK.

I check my pockets. Of course I don't have the slip of paper Rin gave me. Shit. No inventory on respawn? This game sucks, man.

> get gud, noob

I can't remember the address either. I only gave it a quick look. Thought I had at least another day to memorize it. Shit.

Okay, calm down. It's all right. I'll just have to ask Rin for the address again this time. Nothing's really been lost. I look over the machine and the open notebook on my desk and --

Wait.

So... going back to that energy spectrum Uncle Shin said he could detect. He called the most common kind "G-Energy." The notes say it shows up on the detector as one green light and two to four blue lights, depending on the intensity of the signal.

"G-Energy." Holy Grail. Grail energy.

I'm an idiot.

> rethink everything

So let's assume that the dark energy Uncle Shin was tracking had something to do with this "magic" somehow. Which is in fact a thing. (Come on, worldview. We can do this. Just keep mentally swapping out "magic" for "sufficiently advanced technology of unknown origin" until the pain goes away. We'll get there eventually. Baby steps.)

I go back through the notebooks again. I keep getting drawn back to those date range calculations. The ones that just happen to match up with when the Grail War's getting started. That can't be a coincidence, right?

***

> skip to: iteration 15, day 2, early morning

I wait until they're back, then go down the street to Emiya's. No one answers when I knock, but the door's unlocked. I go in and wander out towards the back, where I know they are. "Hey, Tohsaka. About the Murder-Death-Kill -- who decides when it's gonna happen? Is it the Church or --"

"Who the fuck are you?!"

Rin points her arm at me like a rifle. Saber draws her invisible sword. Emiya... well... stays unconscious on the floor.

Oh. Right.

I... sort of skipped the introductions this time, didn't I. Took a rain check on that first meeting and the trip to the church, so I wouldn't have to go through meeting creepy priest or psycho loli again. Didn't really think too much about it.

> oops

I take a deep breath. "I'll come in again."

> no one expects the japanese inquisition