Post by signy on Dec 12, 2015 8:21:43 GMT
“I guess this is the last one for today.”
The middle-aged man pulled out another object from the metallic delivery tray. It was an old wooden drinking horn, found perfectly preserved in one of Scandinavia most remote area. The patterned carvings on its surface, long faded, still showed quite an extravagant pattern fit for a king. There was faintly a shape of a dragon and other shapes that could still be traced down to current Burgundian ornaments. Nonetheless, there was no doubt that the drinking horn was very old, probably extending back to the time of legends.
Such ancient relic would be greatly valued in museums around the world. But the middle-aged man with brown hair did not even twitch when gripping an item of such rarity. He briskly brought it to a nearby desk and, rather carelessly, put it down near an empty coffee mug. Near the table his partner, a short-haired lady with glasses, lifted her head from a stack of papers she had been carefully riding.
She raised an eyebrow. “Another one?”
“They said to make it seven today.” The man answered nonchalantly, now circling around the desk to another desk loaded with buzzing computers of various kinds. He began inputting various data on the maze of machines.
“What’s wrong with you, Anne? Tired?” The man said, his voice beating the incessant humming of the machines in the room. He turned his head towards her and smiled.
The woman huffed.
“Tired physically, no. But mentally, I am in distress.”
“Oh, what gives?”
She gestured towards the huge room they were in.
“This, what else.”
Their huge room was filled gigantic machines and countless cables strewn around almost anywhere. There were also some strange markings glowing on the floor, and some even on the walls. Some other desks and even more piles of papers were on the room. But this late at night, there were only both of them left.
The man glanced disinterestedly at the room they both were so familiar with. “I don’t get it. What’s wrong?”
“This is wrong.” She closed the thick file she had been reading and threw it on her desk. “Summoning Heroic Spirits in large numbers like this. Almost like they are Pocket Monsters to be collected! They are Humankind finest examples! This isn’t right at all!”
The man regarded his partner’s sudden outburst with an impassive expression. “But we’ve done this for months. And besides, we need them if we were to save the world, right? If there is anyone who can do it, it is them.”
“I know, Ralph. I know. It’s just… a little too much. Can’t they like, say, limit how many Servants there are to be summoned?”
The man shrugged. “Well, they have been very helpful until now. I see no reason why we should limit ourselves if we still need it.”
“We’ve been lucky so far.” The woman grimly retorted. She rose from her seat and then maneuvered towards her position on behind another machine. A headgear of some sort was hanging there, and she picked it up and put it on her head.
“Just wait until we summon an ugly one.” She said cautioningly while fastening the headgear, “With these Heroic Spirits, nothing can be really sure.”
The man laughs, “Oh, Anne. You’re a soothsayer now? Like, you have Ascended?” But the woman gave him a glare and the man turned, still chuckling. “Well, let’s wrap up the day. Ehem.”
He looked at the data.
“This is the drinking horn that, we believe, the Hero Siegfried himself has carried. We could not find the Fig leaf and Nibelung Treasure was forever lost, so this is the second best thing. The only other Heroic Spirit associated with this was Brynhildr the Valkyrie, from which they had shared the drink of wisdom. But she has been summoned as Lancer, so this time, we’ll nail Siegfried for sure.”
“Only two associated Heroes?” The woman interrupted in a scrutinizing voice, “No others we have to prepare for?”
“Well, if this is really the drinking horn that Siegfried carried, then it might link us to other characters he had met in his life. Sigmund, Gudrun, Grimhildr... hey, even Wotan himself.” He chuckled. “But it is very weak. It is like… using Excalibur not to summon King Arthur, but to summon others that she had crossed blades with. Completely absurd.”
The woman nodded. “Well, then. I just hope that we get lucky this time, too.”
The man was affirmative. “Yeah. Let’s.”
With that, the Ritual began.
The sound of rushing wind was heard as the symbol around the drinking horn burned bright in intense red. Untold amount of energy rushed towards the make-shift altar. Pure, collected energy, strong enough to enable any miracles and to establish any contracts. Blanket of pure prana enveloped the drinking horn, covering its tip, its metal-rimmed hole, the centuries old carvings in its body…
…and a single drop from a certain mead, laid frozen inside the drinking horn since the time it was discarded.
***
“A…child…?”
“Wait, what is this mist…?”
“I am sorry. But I cannot stand even the slightest heat. You would not mind me cooling my surrounding for a while, would you?”
“Of course. Go ahead. It’s not like you have any hostile intention after all…”
“You can bring a cooling mist? And it smells funny too…”
“Yes. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions…”
***
The man blinked.
He was sitting on his usual seat. In front of his usual machine. The digital clock near it beeped, telling him it was almost time to close the Summoning Chamber. On the screen in front of him was displayed the usual data that came flooding in as soon as a Servant was summoned.
He shook his head lethargically. He could not remember why, but he could not help but feeling he had missed something....
Scanning his surroundings, he saw his partner and a blue-haired child standing face-to-face. His partner had her clipboards and was about to close it. Apparently, she had finished gathering the necessary data for the newly summoned Servant.
The man glanced at his screen. ‘Heroic Spirit Name: Signy. Class: Assassin. Home Region: Northern Europe …..
…Last input: one minutes ago. In: Name’
“So, that is all I think.” He could hear his partner talked. “But that Noble Phantasm of yours. You cannot deactivate it to enable us to scan you?”
The child smiled. A polite, ordinary smile, “But, Lady. You have asked me before and I have complied.”
“Have I?” The woman opened her clipboard again. “Oh, right. My apologies. Lessee… Your physical characteristic is not very appealing.” She glanced at the child, but he seemed content about his own weakness. So, she continued. “’E’…’E’…’C’…’D’…’D’…’C’ well at least you have some mana. And your Noble Phantasm was a curse…”
“…from the time I was cursed to be a troll.” The child continued politely. “If only I’d known I would be revived to experience it all over again…”
The woman closed his clipboard and bended down as if wanting to pet him on the head. But she refrained at the last moment. “I know. We are sorry, but we really need your help. As I’ve told you before, the world as we know it will end for sure, and only select Heroic Spirit can undo the damage that has been caused.”
The child nodded. “I understand. And I'd love to help achieve that goal.”
“Thanks!” The woman clapped her hands. “You know, you are much better than the usual boastful Heroes we have to deal with. They are usually so hard to listen, and so easy to talk all the way by themselves. It is nice to have a change once in a while…”
“I am a weak, worthless Servant. What else can I offer but some politeness?” The child turned around and began walking towards the door. “Please rest assured that I will do my utmost to help, little help though I might be.”
And as she passed the man’s desk, she bowed her head a little. “Good night to you too, Ralph.”
“Are you sure you can find your way around?” Anna called from a distance. The girl turned on her heels.
“But didn’t you say you have loads of work to be finished tonight?” She said in an inquiring tone, her eyebrows raised. “Please don’t worry. You have explained to me everything in detail. I’d hate to disturb you just to escort me to my room. I am not that special. Not...no like that Atlantean King you told me that demanded a whole compound for himself. ” Her eyes gleamed in laughter.
“Besides, I already have this card.” And she proudly lifted a card hanging from neck. His Chaldea Access Card, with the name Signy on it.
‘Strange…’ the man thought, ‘I don’t remember having printed it for her…' But his partner nodded and waved, so he assumed that the stress of work had finally crept into him.
The Servant nodded back and smiled. Soon, the door slid closed behind her.
All that was left in the room was the man and the woman. The incessant machine hummed in the background.
The woman walked towards the man, carrying another load of paper. “What’s with the look, Ralph? Sleepy?”
The man slowly shook his head. He felt stiff and sleepy, somehow. “She is a very polite Heroic Spirit, isn’t she?”
“She?” The woman laughed. She brought the papers down on the man’s desk and turned to face him. “ 'She' looks like a boy to me. But I guess we’ll never knew.”
“Well, I inputted her gender as female.” The man glanced at the monitor. ‘Gender: Female.’ “Besides, legend stated Signy was a female.”
“And legends also stated King Arthur was a male.” The woman started returning towards her own desk. “In any case, there has been some grieve misunderstanding about the Relic.”
The man nodded. “Yes. Well, who knows it might belong to another Sigurd! Son of Hringr…” He shook his head. “Man, you’ll have to give it to our ancestors for their uncreative mind when it comes to naming...”
At that moment, the door behind them slid open. A Security Offical came in with his usual black clothing. The emblem of Chaldea was proudly displayed on his chest. He nodded politely towards the two researchers.
“I am sorry, Sir, Madam. Is everything alright?”
The man lifted his eyebrows.
“As you can see, nothing unusual. What is it?”
The Security Official stepped in and looked around the room as if checking something. “We received a bad recording from the Summoning Chamber earlier. Is there something that had tampered with the cameras?”
The man shrugged. On the far side the woman shook her head. “Not that I know of. What happened?”
“Well, the video showed you two sitting on your desks. But it was incredibly static that we had to be suspicious of some malfunction…”
“Of course we are static while working. Can’t you see that’s why we all want a raise?” The man laughed in jest. On the far side, the woman chuckled. She shouted.
“Better go back to your post, Jo. They don’t like personnel other than Lab Technicians around this part.”
The simple minded Security Officer was easily pleased. He touched his cap with a smile. “Well then, pardon my intrusion. Sir, Madam. I hope the Summoning went well today?”
“As if you'd understand.” The man laughed, but not in an offensive way, “Well, we did seven today….Or was it six?” He typed something on his keyboards and scanned the monitor. “No. Seven. Last one was Signy, fifteen minutes ago. Hey, Anne!” He shouted to the other side of the room. “Which one was Signy? I don’t seem to recall…”
“All here in my clipboard.” The woman waved her heavy-set clipboard, “Gosh, Ralph. You must be very tired, aren’t you?”
***
“Oh, hey there Ralph. It’s not often you come down here.”
“Oh, hi…” The man’s gaze quickly shifted to the nametag of the other, younger man. “…Jake. Yeah. I was told to check the Virtual Database for a Servant’s data. Apparently, we’ve put some parameters wrong.”
“Mmhhm…” Jake nodded, sipping his hot coffee that he had just get from the machines. “And why were you standing here, then?”
“Apparently, I left my Special Access Card at my office,” Ralph said in a guilty tone, while the younger man laughed and shook his head. “I know. I know. I am sorry. Say, can you give me a hand in it?”
“Sure.” Said Jake, still chuckling. “But you’d better finish before ten, Ralph. I ain’t waiting around only so that you can get out of the data room!”
Ralph smiled. “Many thanks.” And with a slid from Jake’s card, they both entered the room….
***
Power. Limitless power. The capacity to emulate any and all miracles that ever existed. No. To create miracles itself. To set the bar and define the new standard of what could be called a “miracle”. Even those that has never happened in the world before.
And Servants. Countless of them. The pinnacle of Humankind, standing neatly in a row like puppets ready to be commanded. And behind them, the towering figure of The Root. The Origin. The ultimate knowledge. Of which the Well of Urd was only one of many doors leading to it...
Unconsciously, Grimhildr’s lips curved into a smile. The words that had just been typed appeared in the monitor. Blindingly giving the secret inner workings of the miraculous yet understandable system.
This Chaldea System… It needs a new ruler.