New Singularity

Seth and Romani walked toward the Command Room without saying a word. The Doctor didn't know what to say without sounding awkward while Seth just liked to enjoy the silence.

It didn't take them long for them to get there. Fortunately, there was no employee here at this time, and Da Vinci had gone somewhere else, probably to invent something.

Dr. Roman took two chairs that were in front of the big computers and dragged both to where Seth was, motioning for him to sit in one of them.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence for Romani before he decided to ask, "What did you mean with your words from when you exited the coffin?"

Resting his head on his hand, Seth looked at the Doctor for a moment prior to replying, "Exactly what I said. Between ghosts, we shouldn't step on each other blankets. If you are worried about me knowing your identity then you have nothing to fear, I haven't figured it out...yet."

Romani heaved a sigh of relief, although the last part slightly unnerved him. To be honest, he felt slightly scared, not because he feared the man in front of him but because if someone found out his identity then his whole plan, everything he worked for to prevent the destruction of Humanity could come to an end. He didn't know who he could trust, and having a person close to finding his identity wasn't exactly someone he could place his confidence in.

"Then, that means you aren't exactly human either." Dr. Roman said while looking directly into his eyes.

Seth arched his eyebrows at his comment. "Did I look like a human to you before?" This Doctor couldn't be that much of an airhead, could he?

Noticing his blunder, Romani did a fake cough of embarrassment. "You are right about that. Then, are you some kind of Servant? A Pseudo-Servant...or maybe a Demi-Servant like Mash? No, that's not it. The process to create a Demi-Servant is only known to us..."

Seth noticed how the man with strawberry hair's tone and expression got guiltier at the end of the sentence, so he guessed that the process wasn't so 'friendly' to the eyes.

"Sorry to break your bubble, but I'm neither of those. However, if you want a comparison, then I would be more like a Demi-Servant than anything. Of course, I don't suffer the shortage of life Mash has." Seth said the last part with special attention on the Doctor's expression and bingo, he gripped the side of his chair as the expression of guilt became more prominent. It wasn't like he enjoyed seeing people suffer, not anymore at least. Still, he wanted to see if Romani was genuinely remorseful about the events that led to Mash becoming a Demi-Servant. He wouldn't place the little trust he had on someone without a conscience.

"So, you know about that project...?" Dr. Roman's voice was a little shaky as he asked this.

"I don't, but I do recognize an experiment when I see one." Seth's words brought a mixture of relief and more guilt to him. Seeing as he was not going to go anywhere by feeling like this, he decided to take a deep breath to calm his mind.

"I see... Then I will ask you again, what is your real objective? Do you have Humanity in your best interest?" Different from before, he asked this question with seriousness and calmness with no traces of other emotions on his face.

Seth raised a finger in front of Romani. "I will do everything in my power to ensure Humanity survives one time, even if the only thing that remains is a single person. After that, I will quietly disappear to where I belong."

Dr. Roman looked at him for a few moments. He didn't understand what he meant by saying he will save Humanity only one time, so he decided to ask again so the black-haired man could clarify. "If you save Humanity one time, why can't you do it another time?"

"It's quite simple." He said as he got up from his chair, signifying their conversation was coming to an end. "Humanity's future should be in their own hands, not mine. The fact that I'm helping you is more than enough." Leaving behind those words, he proceeded to go out of the room, leaving Romani alone to think about his words.

Just as Seth exited the place, he was met with the figure of Caster walking toward him. "Cu Chulainn? What are you doing here?"

"I was searching for you, y'know? I had something to give you." The Child of Light threw a bag toward Seth, who caught it with doubt on his face.

"What's this supposed to be?"

"Some clothes, both the male and female staff, have been complaining about how you are always half-naked or you don't have any decency and whatnot." Caster said while shaking his head.

"How come I've never heard of that?" Seth asked with suspicion in his voice.

"Haha, beats me! I bet they are scared of your gloomy aura or something." Cu laughed his question off like it was nothing extraordinary.

"Ho? And care to explain to me why this shirt says 'Gods suck' in all capitals?" He asked again, showing a black short sleeve v-neck t-shirt with said words written across it in white.

"Don't mind the details. I'm sure the one who made it had some hate against Gods or something, maybe they were victims of a curse. Who knows? Not my business." The Sage of the Forest still opted for playing dumb even if the odds weren't in his favor.

"Whatever. I don't mind dressing as people do in this era, I've never had problems adapting to new situations." Seth shook his head at Caster antics, entering a room where he didn't sense anyone he told Cu Chulainn to wait outside.

He took all the clothes out of the bag before memorizing how they looked. Once that was done, he burned them all.

With a mental command, his attire started to transform, and eventually, it became like the clothes that he had previously burned.

He was now wearing a black coat with grey fur lining that went down to his hips over the previously mentioned t-shirt, dark blue pants, and black shoes. He let his long black hair fall freely over the coat.

Exiting the room, he reunited with Caster again. "Now you look like a proper person, ain't that good?"

"If you say so. Now, let's go to the Cafeteria for something to eat and then to a simulation room." Seth said, already going ahead.

"Well, I was getting bored anyway, so don't mind accompanying you." Caster put his hands behind his head while following him.

...

When they entered the Cafeteria, they met with a dying EMIYA on the floor, something that didn't surprise the two guys seeing Saber on one of the tables devouring tons of junk food. She was so engrossed on it that she didn't notice the newcomers.

"You look pathetic, Archer. Get yourself together." Cu didn't miss an opportunity to mock him as that had become a habit.

"Sh-Shut up, Caster... Why don't you try cooking for that monster once?" EMIYA shakily asked as he tried to get up.

He then looked at Seth before raising an eyebrow. "I didn't expect you to be the type who wore modern clothes."

The black-haired man just shrugged before pointing at Caster. "His idea."

Coming to a realization, Archer looked at Caster in disdain. "What's with that look? Do you want to get beaten up like before?" "Hmph. That was just because I couldn't use my full power." "What nonsense are you talking about? Excuses are for the weak!" "Then bring it on."

Seth ignored the duo and went to the counter to get food. Once the old lady kindly gave it to him, he went back to them and grabbed both with one hand by their collar and dragged them to "train." It was safe to say that they experienced something worse than hell.

'Strange... I feel like someone was here before. It must be my imagination." Artoria thought as she resumed her eating.

―――――――――――――――――――

Like that, two weeks had passed. The new Servants already got used to Chaldea, and little by little familiarized with the localizations such as the Cafeteria, training, simulation and command room, gym, showers, etcetera.

During these two weeks, Seth has been having his own problems. First, he had to deal with Cu Chulainn and Archer, who ran every time they saw him. Second, he had to deal with Kiyohime, who the moment she realized he wasn't her Master, her eyes turned really scary and started stalking him every chance she got while a dark aura oozed from her. Third, he had to deal with the stares Jeanne, Jalter, and Saber had been giving him the moment they noticed his change of clothes. Apparently, that changed his own aura or something like that. If he were to comment on those words as modern people would nowadays, then he would say that was pure bullshit. And lastly... Seth was having a situation in front of him that he didn't know how to deal with.

When he was walking through the hallway trying to find the two Servants on the run, he met with Martha. The moment their gazes met, they each stopped moving and just stayed still.

The Saint was the first to break the silence. "I heard you were the one to defeat the Dragon Witch as well as the spellcaster who was behind it all."

"Everyone did their part. I don't think I deserve all the credit." Seth said after a moment of silence.

Martha's expression suddenly turned into one a mixture of anger and...disappointment? She got near him and hit his head with her knuckles. "Haa?! What's that supposed to mean?! Eh-...Ahem. You may disguise it however you want, but I could see you were purposely letting them fight some battles so they could be ready to face what's to come." For a moment, her filter was turned off, but she quickly recovered.

"I don't know what you are talking about Martha. Anyway, go look for Fujimaru, Romani called us to the Command Room. Apparently, we are ready to go the next Singularity." He rubbed his head in 'pain' before continuing to walk.

The Dragon Rider looked at Seth's back for a moment and then shook her head. "Good grief, you never change." Not bothering with him anymore, she went to search for her Master.

...

Once everyone was in the Command Room, Dr. Roman greeted them. "Hello, guys. We already know the time and place of the next Singularity, so we are ready to Rayshift."

"Where is it situated?" Even if the future of Humanity was at stake, she couldn't help but feel excitement traveling to all sort of places, Chaldea has been the place where she had been her whole life after all.

"It's situated in the First Century, in Ancient Rome, to be exact. It's practically in the same place you were before. However, remember that same as Orleans, History may have changed to become something completely different." Romani replied to her question, also giving them a piece of advice.

Jalter averted her gaze at the mention of Orleans but otherwise kept listening.

"Your job is the same, recover the Holy Grail. The Counter Force most likely sent some Servants to intervene, try to see if you can contact them, and form an alliance. Be careful, though. They may turn out to be hostile." Romani continued one last time before asking the final question, "Are you ready?"

Everyone present nodded. The ones who were going this time were: Cu Chulainn, Vlad, Martha, Jeanne, Jater and Lancelot.

EMIYA wanted to go, but Saber said she needed him for something, so he had to stay but promised to go on the next Singularity. Siegfried wanted to get stronger faster, so he apologized to Seth while saying he was going to train on his own in the training room. Kiyohime has been in her room for a while, but no one would get near it as the dark aura, and creepy laugh that was coming from it was working as a deterrent.

With nothing left to do, both Masters entered the coffins.

Unsummon Program start.

Spiritron Conversion start.

Rayshift starting in 3, 2, I...

All procedures cleared.

Grand Order commencing operation.

Once Seth opened his eyes, he looked around him, noticing he was a top of a hill. Moving his gaze upward, he saw the same ring of light from Orleans. "So it's here too, huh?"

'Hm?' Suddenly, he turned his head toward the distant sea. "It will be best if I don't go there..." Seth's eyes reflected a certain struggle. However, quickly shaking his head he returned to normal.

It wasn't long before the others started materializing too, even Kiyohime who wasn't in the Command Room previously.

'Let's see what this Singularity will offer.'